


Paint It Black

by Basmasadek



Series: Avenging Hunters [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Altered Mental States, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, Married Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Married Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Mutant Husbands, Superhusbands, Team as Family, hunter husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:22:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 79,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28643628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basmasadek/pseuds/Basmasadek
Summary: The wedding was getting closer and closer every day and Sam was feeling lighter than air. He couldn’t believe that that day was finally coming. They have been through a lot since the day he proposed, almost died several times that he thought he won’t live to see this day.Nothing will be able to ruin that day for him. Hopefully anyway.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Thor, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury/Raven | Mystique, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanov/Sam Winchester, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Avenging Hunters [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/918309
Comments: 260
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *Sheepishly coming out of the corner* Hey!! Almost a year since the last part and I hate myself for it, sorry! I hope you didn't forget about me or thought I died or something! Life just got a little complicated for me to write, that's all! But I am back!
> 
> I just need to point a few things out first:
> 
> -English is not my first language, So if you find any mistakes feel free to point them out.
> 
> \- Charles didn't lose his hair and now he can walk again! Because this is my universe and I said so.
> 
> \- Supernatural, I am ignoring you and your crappy ending. In fact, I am altering almost the entire Supernatural universe, because they hurt my feelings. 
> 
> \- This part was inspired by the DC series Crossover 'Crises On Earth X'. I just 'borrowed' the idea, so you don't actually need to watch it.
> 
> \- This one can't be read as a stand alone, you have to at least read the last part. If you decided to read the whole series I will be more than happy and it will be much easier for you to understand many things!
> 
> \- If any of the scenes or quotes seemed like they were from the TV show Friends or How I Met Your Mother, they probably are! I just re watched them and found so many scenes that will go beautifully with this series! I hope you guys don't mind!
> 
> I hope you enjoy! please comment and tell me what you think.

“I hate this. I fucking hate this.”

Dean repeated for the hundredth time in the past hour, making Sam sigh in frustration yet again.

“I know you hate it, Dean. Like I said, I am clueless about these stuff, so I need you here with me, because you are my big brother.” Sam repeated his excuse for dragging Dean into this, playing the brother card again, making Dean scowl at him.

“Okay, so I understand that you need your brother here with you, then why the hell I am here too?” Tony whined from beside Dean with a pout. Sam seriously didn’t know whose whining was worse so far.

“Because, if I didn’t drag you or Cas, then Dean would have never come with me. Cas is currently in Westchester with the X-Family, so the choice laid on you.” He explained with as much patience as he could manage.

“I feel so lucky.” Tony groaned with a roll of his eyes, ignoring the double Winchester bitchfaces directed at him as he took another sip of his glass of wine.

“Why are we here again?” Dean sighed, as he stared at Sam with a frown.

“We are tasting all these different wines, pairing them up with gourmet cheeses for the wedding. Natasha thought wine and cheese will add a nice touch to the whole thing.”

“Who knew being in a committed heterosexual relationship could make a guy so gay.” Tony muttered into his glass. Dean snorted and almost choked on his mouthful of wine as he tried not to burst out laughing, while Sam directed a new version of his bitchface at him, made specifically for the shorter man for over a year now. 

“I am sorry, how am I the gay one here? You do realize who you are married to, right? How gayer could you get?” Sam raised his eyebrow at the both of them.

“Still not as gay as you right now, Princess.” Dean smirked cheekily at him, while clinking his glass with Tony, who was wearing a matching grin on his face.

“I may be a sissy right now, but I can still pound you to the ground.”

“I would love to see you try.”

“Come on, guys. That’s one of the only things Natasha asked me to be in charge of. She is taking care of everything else regarding the wedding. So, help me out a little here, it’s out of my comfort zone too.” Sam sighed, already regretting bringing these two with him.

He should have waited until Cas came back, or took Steve with him instead. Charles too would have been a way better option, but sadly, he was the reason why Cas was in his home currently in the first place. Hell, even Erik was a better choice than these two together. At least, from the mutant, he will only get withering looks, with the occasional growl instead.

A lot had happened in the past few months, since the whole ordeal with the demons that trapped them in the Westchester mansion. For starters, they were all now perfectly healed from the ungodly amount of injuries each one of them got from the three demons. Steve, Dean and Charles were doing a lot better from being possessed and forced to hurt their friends and family, or that’s what they were showing anyway. Sam understands his brother, but both Steve and Charles were so hard to read most of the time, even with how open and honest they both were.

Not to mention the biggest change of all; Charles being able to walk, thanks to Tony and Castiel.

It was a slow progress; his legs were, obviously, weak from not being used for almost a decade. The telepath, however, was stubborn and determined, not to mention Erik’s attentiveness and solid presence.

In short few months, Charles was able to walk around for hours, with short breaks in between to rest his still adapting legs. He still couldn’t really run or sprint, jumping could send him to his knees panting harshly, but they were all happy about how far he reached so far. Seeing him walking around, wearing his constant smile, always made everyone feel better if they were having a bad day.

Erik himself looked like a certain weight fell off his shoulders, since the very moment Charles walked up to his arms. He smiled more easily now, became less angry at everything and got even more attached to Charles, looking like a lovesick puppy every time he was around him, which was always. 

However, once every week, Castiel would go to Westchester with Bruce, so they could check on the chip in Charles’ spine and make sure there was no complications and that his body wasn’t rejecting the foreign body. Every time there was a problem, Castiel would patiently help to deal with it with a minimal amount of his grace, enough to deal with any complication without over using it. Much to Erik’s gratitude and Dean’s relief.

What was also new, was the fact that each one of their family got an anti-possession tattoo now to avoid a repeat of what happened.

Now, that was a day to remember. Mainly because Tony did get the tattoo on the upper left side of his ass. Sam knows that because the genius announced it very loudly, very cheekily, which resulted in Dean losing his shit from laughter and for Steve’s face turning several, very interesting shades of red.

Sam didn’t really try to ask where the others got their tattoos, he just saw them accidently from some of them. He knows Steve has it on his left pec, from when he saw him shirtless once. Erik on his upper right arm, while Charles on his left hip. Logan on the side of his neck. Bucky on his shoulder, where the star on his metallic arm used to be. Bruce and hank on their forearms. These were the ones who had it in a visible place or showed accidently, the others Sam had no idea where they got theirs. 

He obviously knew where Natasha got hers. On her ribs, right under her left breast, which will always be one of the hottest things he ever laid eyes on.

He felt warmth spread through him as he thought about his fiancée. In two weeks, she will be his wife. The wedding was getting closer and closer every day and Sam was feeling lighter than air. He couldn’t believe that that day was finally coming. They have been through a lot since the day he proposed, almost died several times that he thought he won’t live to see this day.

Nothing will be able to ruin that day for him. Hopefully anyway.

Finally, Natasha will be his wife. She will carry his name and become officially Dean’s sister. Sam and Castiel will watch them bicker and at each other’s throats for the rest of their lives and they will enjoy every second of it.

He was so high on his excitement, that he managed to survive an entire afternoon alone with Tony and Dean without wanting to kill them or himself. That was how high he was.

“You know, I still have no idea what my part is in the wedding.” Tony’s grumpy voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Everyone knows what their part is. Steve got ordained to officiate the wedding, becoming the hottest minister that ever lived-“, that got him double rolling eyes from the two Winchesters, “-Dean is the best man. Castiel, Bruce and Bucky are Groomsmen. Clint is the maid of honor, which I will always make fun of as long as I live. Charlie, Raven and Pepper are bridesmaids. Thor insisted on being the Ring bearer, which was weirdly both hilarious and adorable. That leaves me. What the hell is my role? There is nothing left for me to do!” Tony finished his rant with a pout.

Sam hid his smirk as he took a sip of wine. Tony did have a role, but Natasha insisted on torturing him by not telling him anything yet. He had to admit, it was funny to see a genius superhero pouting like a little kid at being left out. It was worth it, so he could see his reaction, when Natasha eventually tells him what his role was.

“I don’t know, Tony. Try asking Nat, she is the one responsible for these things.” Sam shrugged, not giving anything away.

“I tried! But she kept deflecting me, like the manipulative spy she is.” Tony frowned, as he shoved a piece of cheese in his mouth, chewing aggressively.

“She is just probably torturing you, dude.” Dean smirked, as he watched him in amusement. Sam suspected that Dean knows what Natasha had in her mind and was enjoying torturing Tony as well. He wouldn’t put it past him. “Just be patient. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“Patience isn’t one of my many, many qualities.” Tony huffed as he took another sip from his glass, eyeing Dean from the corner of his eye. “And my type of underwear is only between me and Steve. No need to judge.”

“You had to ruin it for me, hadn’t you?” Dean grimaced at him, earning a smirk from the genius and a groan from Sam. “Anyway, let’s talk about the Bachelor party!”

That effectively changed the subject, as the two men started to talk excitedly about how to get Sam stupid drunk for an entire night.

Sam just watched them with a warm smile. All of this wouldn’t be happening if they hadn’t met the Avengers for more than a year ago. A lot had changed since then and Sam couldn’t be happier even if he tried.

***

“I think this is everything.”

Natasha announced from where she was sitting on the kitchen table, a pile of paper in front of her. Her hair pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head with a pencil stuck in it, Steve suspected she had forgotten about it.

“All the wedding planning is done?” he asked without looking up from his cooking, already used to her materializing wherever he was to bounce off the wedding details at him, without needing him to actually listen, but he did anyway.

He could tell she was getting both stressed and excited the closer the wedding gets, so he never commented or complained. Even when she sometimes appears, suddenly, in his and Tony’s bedroom, effectively cock blocking them most of the time, which drives Tony crazy. He suspects she does that on purpose. He chuckled, as he leaned down to scratch Angel, the little puppy, on the head as he slept peacefully by Steve’s feet.

“Well, technically, it’s never done, until the wedding is actually done. I managed to finish all the tasks I am supposed to do so far. Sent out invites. Arranged the guests’ seating chart and all that. Everyone knows their roles, except Tony, but that’s on purpose. You are absolutely sure you got ordained, right?” she asked him for maybe the tenth time since he did it.

“Yes, Nat, my answer is still the same as the ten times you asked me already.” He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help to feel amused at how nervous and stressed she was. It was unusual to see her like that. 

“Sorry, sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I kept asking each one if they knew their roles over ten times too. At one point, I actually managed to frustrate Castiel. I am both proud and guilty about that one.” She sighed, as she finally pulled the pencil from her hair and placed it on top of the pile of paper.

“Everything is going to go alright, Nat. You did a great work in such a short time.” He gave her a small smile, before going back to his task.

“Thank you.” she smiled briefly back at him, as she stood up and made her way towards him. “All I need to focus on right now, is cooking Sam a nice dinner, after spending an entire afternoon alone with Dean and Tony. The poor guy deserves a romantic evening.” She stopped by the counter and eyed what he was doing. “By the way, what am I cooking?”

“Well, you are making him a frisee salad with goat cheese and pine nuts. Wild rice, roasted asparagus and salmon en croute.” He announced with a smile. Proudly eyeing the fancy dinner he was making for the engaged couple. Even if the credit would go to Natasha. 

“I thought I was making him filet mignon.” Natasha stated with a small frown.

His smile fell into a disapproving, frustrated scowl. “Yeah, you were, but you decided to make salmon, because you had some left over and then, you realized if you bitched about it, then you would stop cooking and _you_ would have to make your famous burned, baked potato and diet coke.” He snarked with narrowed eyes.

“Wow, I really get crappy when I cook.” Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. “Not sure if this amount of sass was already there, or it was multiplied by being subjected constantly to Tony’s snark and Castiel’s sass.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You do realize that Sam is fully aware of your inability to cook a decent, unburned meal, right? This isn’t going to fool him.”

“Yeah, well, it won’t hurt to try.” Natasha gave him a bitchface, that suspiciously looked exactly like Sam’s.

“Wow, couples who live together do start to look alike.” He smirked, getting an even more powerful bitchface for his trouble.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, Steve focusing back on finishing the meal.

“I am getting married in two weeks.” Natasha whispered a few minutes later, looking awed.

Steve looked up at her and smiled warmly at the wonder and awe on her face. “Yeah, you are.”

“I never thought this will ever happen.” She murmured, looking up at him with wide eyes. “With everything that happened, I didn’t think I will get this far.”

He reached over to cover her hand gently with his and squeezed.

“You deserve it, Nat.” he whispered warmly to her. “After everything you went through, you deserve to be happy.”

She looked up at him and mirrored his smile.

“I guess it’s time for me to try some of what you have.” Her smile widened as she said that.

“It’s about time you do.” He chuckled softly. “You won’t regret it. Believe me.”

She squeezed his hand in a silent gratitude.

“I still think that Sam won’t believe you cooked this.”

“Really supportive, Steve.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Careful. Careful. Careful!”

“You know what, Erik? For the rest of our lives, I will be careful, until told otherwise.” Charles raised an eyebrow, as he looked down at his husband from the top of the stairs.

“Give me a break, my heart almost stops every time you try to get down the stairs.” Erik sighed nervously, while he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That’s comforting really. Don’t let me get in the way of your overwhelming confidence and optimism, darling.”

“I didn’t know getting your legs back will make you this snarky.” Castiel smiled in amusement, as he watched intently as the telepath started to, carefully, get down the stairs, preparing to interfere in case Charles’ legs wobbled or something.

“I have always been snarky, Castiel. The wheelchair just made it look cute.” Charles rolled his eyes, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs towards Erik, who breathed a sigh of relief, as he took him into his arms.

“Yeah, right now? Not so cute.” Raven snorted, before making her way towards the main door. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get my and Charlie’s bridesmaids’ dresses, before Natasha reminds me for the tenth time.” 

When she finally left, Erik turned to Charles with a soft smile.

“You will always be cute to me, even in your snarkiest moments.” He murmured sweetly, leaning down to give him a quick kiss.

“Thank you, darling.” Charles grinned up at him, as he leaned up to steal another kiss. Being able to do that again will never get old.

“Come on, I made you pancakes for breakfast.” The metal bender announced, as he started to pull the telepath towards the kitchen.

“How about-“ Charles stopped him and pulled him closer to look up at him from under his lashes. “-I let you cover me up with syrup and gobble me up instead?”

“Please, don’t do that.” Castiel’s deadpan voice made both of them flinch and look up at him with wide eyes. “I like syrup. Please, don’t ruin it for me.”

“Not being able to hear anything from your mind makes me sometimes not notice you are still in the room.” Charles winced apologetically at the angel.

“Use your eyes instead, then.” Castiel raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching a little in amusement, as he turned and made his way towards the kitchen, hearing them following him.

Apparently, Charles became way hornier and kinkier, since he was able to walk around properly again. Sadly, Castiel knew that from the amount of times he accidently walked on them around the tower and the bunker, since Charles sometimes didn’t notice him in the room or coming their way. Erik never complained and seemed to be more than happy to indulge Charles no matter where they were. Thankfully, this never happened in the mansion, since there were children around.

It was really nice to see the two of them being this cute and happy around each other. It’s like their relationship was renewed with no pain, guilt or sadness between them anymore. It was affecting everyone around them, especially the students, who were still thrilled about seeing their professor walking around like that.

A few minutes later, they were sitting in the kitchen eating Erik’s pancakes. It was empty save for the three of them. The students were all in the backyard, enjoying a day in the sun, Charles’ orders, and being supervised by Hank and Logan, so it was just the three of them inside.

He was supposed to return to the Tower today. Mainly, because Dean was bitching at him to come back, thinking that just because Castiel wasn’t constantly in his line of sight, he will combust into flames or something, and Natasha was nagging at him to help out with some wedding related stuff.

His phone didn’t stop ringing in the past three days and it was driving him insane.

On cue, his phone started to ring again and he finally lost his shit.

Without bothering to see the caller id, he grabbed his phone and stood up to shove it inside a pot, covered it, then slammed it inside the oven with a growl.

“Now, you know, those are a delicacy in India.” Charles’ amused voice said from behind him.

“Then I hope you are craving Indian food.” He retorted, as he sat heavily again at the table.

“You are increasingly frustrated lately.” Erik commented, adding a few pancakes to both Castiel and Charles’ plates.

“Can’t help but feeling something is about to happen.” Castiel frowned down at his food. It’s a feeling he was having for a while now the closer the wedding gets, putting him constantly on edge.

“I thought I was the morbid one in this family.” Erik stated with a raised eyebrow.

“I spent too much time with you, it seems.”

“What makes you feel like this anyway?” Charles asked curiously, as he added way too much syrup on his pancakes. Practically drowning the poor breakfast food.

“It’s been quiet for months now. No alien invasions. No demon activity. No Apocalypse. It’s making me nervous and edgy.” His frown deepened then. “Sam and Natasha deserves to have their big day. I don’t want anything to ruin it for them.”

“You have nothing to worry about. If something did happen on the wedding day, Natasha will bury it, before it even starts. She is ruthless like that.” Charles chuckled softly, then gave the angel a kind smile. “It’s going to be fine, Castiel. We will all be there. What can happen in a room filled with superheroes?”

“Hopefully, nothing we can’t handle.” Castiel muttered into his food.

Erik’s phone rang then and he answered immediately.

“Hello? Wait.” The mutant threw his phone at Castiel then. “It’s for you.”

“Dammit!” the angel groaned loudly and Charles let out a laugh at his distress.

***

Dean and Tony entered the living room, only to see Clint holding a dress and was placing it in front of his body, inspecting it curiously.

They both stopped in the doorway, watching the scene with barley contained glee.

The Archer finally noticed their presence and looked up like a deer in headlights.

They stared at each other silently for exactly two seconds.

“You look just like your son, Mrs. Barton.” Tony grinned gleefully, while Dean burst out laughing.

“It’s not what you think.” Clint rolled his eyes then sighed, knowing that the two men will never stop, until they get all the jokes stuck in their throats at the moment.

“You finally decided to wear a dress, Maid of honor?” Dean guffawed, as he didn’t even bother to control his laughter. “Oh, I hope this color will match your lipstick.”

“Seriously, what is happening to the men in this place? trying to steal Natasha’s thunder? Next thing I will see, is Thor deciding to try on Natasha’s wedding dress.” 

“You two would make high school bullies very proud.” Clint scowled at them, before dropping on the couch and crossing his arms petulantly.

“Okay, okay, sorry. Please, Clintrella tell us why do you have a bridesmaid dress?” Dean asked with barley contained grin, as he flopped on another couch.

“Natasha wants me to wear a tie the same color as the bridesmaids’ dress, so I borrowed Pepper’s until I could find a tie like that.” Clint frowned down at the offending red dress.

“I have one. You can take it.” Tony shrugged and took a seat next to Dean.

“You have a fiery red tie?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him.

“have you met me?” Tony gave him a blank look, before turning back to Clint. “Take it. I have several ones.”

“Thanks, dude. You just saved me from going shopping again.” Clint shuddered visibly with a grimace. “Natasha dragged me around to an unholy amount of shopping. From buying her wedding shoes to the lingerie specific for the wedding night, I think I am actually turning into a woman- Don’t!”

Tony and Dean snorted and was about to open their mouths, if not for Clint’s warning yell. They snapped their mouths shut with matching grins on their faces.

“Anyway, do you have a date for the wedding, or you will still maintain the ‘Forever Single’ statues?” Dean asked curiously, while standing up to get a beer from the kitchen.

“Well, the choice is hard! Ladies are lining up to be my date.” The archer scoffed, as he avoided looking at them. “In fact, a few of them were making eyes at me in the coffee shop this morning.”

“Dude, don’t rub our faces with your crazy single life.” Tony deadpanned with a blank face, accepting the beer Dean was handing him.

“No, really! Also there was a woman in the subway, who ‘accidentally’ sat on my hand.”

“Why did we get married?” Dean wailed dramatically, before giving Clint a bitchface as he handed him a beer.

“Okay, so maybe my love life is nonexistent for too long now.” The Archer sighed miserably.

“Oh, really? We didn’t notice.” Steve announced his presence, smirking over at Clint as he gave the top of Tony’s head a kiss, who grinned up at him like the lovesick idiot he was, before flopping on the couch next to him. 

“Thanks for showing up and make this entire situation worse, Cap.” Clint glared at the grinning man, but it was physically painful to even try to be mad at that guy.

“I will go make a cup of coffee. You want a cup, Ken doll?” Tony asked Dean while standing up.

“Yeah, sure. I need to wash the taste of Sam’s sissy wine from my mouth.” The hunter grimaced, as he took a big gulp from his beer, like he was washing the taste.

“Do you want anything, Baby Doll?” the genius turned to his husband with a grin.

“I am fine, thanks.” Steve answered with a raised eyebrow at the new nickname.

“I can’t pull off ‘Baby Doll’, can I?”

“No. I think we learned that from the ‘Sugar Lips’ incident.”

“Noted.” Tony winced, turning lastly to the archer. “Clintrella?”

“Yeah. Make it black like my future as I die sad and alone.” Clint whined dramatically, as he pressed his face into his hands.

“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine.” Tony snorted, making his way towards the kitchen.

“I think I lost my touch with the ladies.” Clint announced miserably, voice muffled into his hands. “I really am going to die alone, aren’t I?”

“Oh, don’t say that. Just because you didn’t have a decent date in almost six months and you flirt like a pre-teen on a sugar rush, doesn’t mean you will die alone.” Dean tried to cheer him up, but from the look Steve was giving him, he didn’t do a great job.

“Thanks, Dean. Really helpful.” Clint scowled at him with narrowed eyes.

“Why are you focusing on women? I know for a fact that you are not exactly as straight as an arrow.” Steve grinned a little at his own pun, making the other two men roll their eyes at him.

“Yeah, that’s true, but all the guys that gets my attention are either straight or gay married.” Clint raised an eyebrow at them pointedly. They blinked back at him, playing dumb. “Besides, I don’t really know how to flirt with guys. It was only a handful of encounters in my life.”

“I could help with that.” Dean grinned smugly, as he leaned forward. “My flirting got me Cas. That’s a huge score by the way.”

“Oh, yeah! You met. You flirted. And five years later, you got him!” Clint rolled his eyes with a snort.

Dean blinked dumbly a few times, exchanged a look with Steve, who shrugged with an awkward smile.

“Fair enough.” The hunter sighed, as he leaned back in his chair.

“Okay, obviously, I am doing something wrong. So you both tell me what do you do while flirting that effectively repel people from you?” Clint asked curiously, as he looked at them expectantly.

“Seriously? I only really flirted with two people in my life and I married one of them, only because he did all the flirting after I failed miserably.” Steve deadpanned with a blank face and a raised eyebrow.

“That’s the point! Why did you fail miserably? You too, Dean.”

The two light haired men exchanged a quick look, before sighing in defeat.

“Well, people don’t like it when I correct their grammar.” Steve stated with a shrug.

“Or explain why my jokes are funny.” Dean added helpfully.

“Or talk about random, unrelated topics when I get awkward.”

“Or when I blurt out inappropriate things in the middle of a normal conversation.”

They both stopped and blinked at each other dumbly for a few seconds. Meanwhile, Clint was trying so hard not to burst out laughing.

“I am so lucky I have Tony.”

“If Cas left me, I will die alone.”

At that moment, Tony came back to the room, carrying a tray with three mugs of coffee, which he almost dropped when a red ball of rage stormed inside the room loudly.

“Clinton Francis Barton!” Natasha yelled the moment she laid eyes on the Archer.

“Whoa, what are you middle naming me for?” Clint exclaimed in panic, while the others watched nervously, afraid to even make a move.

“Did you take one of the bridesmaids’ dresses without telling me?”

“No?” he threw the dress behind his back towards Dean, who caught it then frantically hid it with Steve, as subtly as they could.

Natasha’s glare intensified, making Dean wince in sympathy for Clint for being on its receiving end. 

“Get that dress to Pepper, or I swear I will castrate you, so you could wear that dress yourself!” with that, she turned on her heels and left the room as suddenly as she appeared.

They stayed frozen, looking at each other. Poor Clint looking like he was two seconds away from shitting himself.

Tony turned towards the frozen Dean with a nervous smile.

“Have I told you how lucky Sam is? He is marrying a delicate, pretty flower. He will never get bored!”


	3. Chapter 3

Dean looked up when he heard the elevator’s doors opening, only to see the four red headed women and Clint trudging into the living room, before stopping short and staring at the scene with wide eyes.

He couldn’t really blame them, he thought, as he let his eyes wander around the disaster zone.

Sam’s Bachelor Party last night got a little out of control. By little, Dean means fucking a lot.

It started innocently enough. Well, as innocently as a party planned by Dean Winchester and Tony Stark could go.

To be fair, Tony did want to bring an entire strip club into the Tower to give Sam and their husbands a heart attack as a joke, but Dean compromised with him to bring at least three strippers. The genius complied, bringing two female strippers and one male stripper just because. The look of pure horror and discomfort on Sam’s face was worth the dual disapproving frowns on Steve and Castiel’s faces.

Well, not really, but they got a few good laughs there.

After that, the drinking started and never stopped. Thor brought some of his Asgardian ale, which successfully sent the stoic, unamused Castiel and Steve into a very adorable drunken stupor, which led to a drunken arm wrestle competition between Castiel and everyone else, while Steve cheered the angel on like an enthusiastic cheerleader. What made it more fun, was Castiel’s wide, smug smile whenever he sent anyone who dares to arm wrestle him to the floor with one move.

Sam himself loosened up the more he drank. Soon enough, he was sprawled on the floor with Thor and Bucky and were singing Beautiful in White loudly with huge grins on their faces, after Castiel sent them himself to the floor.

Even Erik got drunk enough to wear his shark smile constantly, which was both nice and creepy as hell.

As the night progressed, things got out of control the drunker they got. Dean couldn’t remember much, but he did recall some things. Like playing Poker, which turned out to be impossible, since they were all giggling like idiots the entire time. Thor at some point deciding he wanted to be a stripper and started to mimic the male stripper from earlier, much to their horror and Bruce’s enthusiasm. Then, a drunk Charles got agitated at something and made Wilson’s, Rhodey’s and Tony’s brains into six-year-old girls, who then fought, with high pitched voices, over a Captain America plushie.

Better yet, Dean recorded all of the above on his phone and he was not even sorry.

Right now, as the girls and Clint came back from Natasha’s Bachelorette party, Dean surveyed the damage done to the communal living room.

Sam was still laying spread eagled on the floor, across his middle laid a half-naked Thor with Bruce curling around one of his legs.

Over the bar, Sam Wilson and Bucky where laying on their sides over the smooth surface, positions flipped so Bucky was hugging Wilson’s legs, while the other was hugging his.

Over one of the couches, Erik was laying across it with his face buried in the armrest, snoring loudly, with Logan and Hank laying on the floor under him, smacking him every few minutes so he would stop snoring. Charles was nowhere to be seen. 

Over the table, Castiel and Steve’s faces were smashed into its surface, hands still gripping each other’s on the table, like they had fallen asleep in the middle of an aggressive arm wrestle match.

Beside Dean on the couch, the pile of pillows started to move, revealing Tony’s head, who blinked at him dumbly for a few seconds, like he was trying to remember who the fuck he was.

“What the hell happened here?” Natasha asked with wide eyes, as her gaze travelled over the bodies scattered around the room.

“Oh, man! I messed the cooler party!” Clint groaned loudly, who had to be in Natasha’s party, since he was the Maid of Honor. Something that Tony and Dean will never stop giving him grief over.

Dean and Tony blinked over at them dumbly. They were almost sober at the moment with only a minor hangover. Their alcohol tolerance was still intact, even after spending years without actually becoming this stupid drunk.

Before anyone could answer Natasha’s question, Charles walked into the room, a tea cup in his hands and a bright smile on his face.

“Oh, the soon to be blushing bride and the beautiful ladies are back!” his smile widened, while he walked towards Natasha to give her a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek, before moving towards one of the empty couches and sat crossed legged on it to sip on his tea contently. “I hope you enjoyed your own party. Sam sure did seem like he enjoyed his.”

They all blinked stupidly at him.

“How the hell is he this sober and chipper?” Dean groaned, as he felt groggy from his headache. “Sure, my hangover is not as bad as it should, but it will take me hours to think straight and try smiling again. How is he doing that?”

“Charles has a very high alcohol tolerance, thanks to his wild days. Even when gets drunk, he never gets a hangover, which is very annoying by the way.” Raven narrowed her eyes at her brother, who just gave her a pleasant smile over the rim of his cup without commenting.

“I hate that guy.” Tony groaned, as he face planted into one of the pillows on the couch.

“I love you too, Big Head.” The telepath retorted with his smile still intact. Tony growled something into the pillow, that could have been either ‘Go to hell’ or ‘Fuck you’. Dean wasn’t entirely sure.

“I am still waiting for an answer, Dean.” Natasha sighed, as she raised an eyebrow at them. “What happened here? And why does it look like you killed your own brother?”

“Oh, he is fine. He is just not used to fun parties.” Dean just waved her off, while pinching the bridge of his nose with a groan. “It was just your regular Bachelor Party. Strippers, lots of booze and stupid decisions.”

“Strippers? Steve and Sam actually let you bring strippers?” Charlie asked with wide eyes.

“Fucking hell, I really did mess an awesome party.” Clint buried his face into his hands with a loud groan.

“Well, we didn’t actually tell them there are strippers coming.” Tony looked up with a crooked smile, wincing at Pepper’s disapproving raised eyebrow. “Sure, I am going to get hell for it later, but the look of pure horror on Sam’s face was too good to resist.”

“And predictably, those three strippers are never going to strip again, because they were convinced by my sasquatch brother, Captain Too Good To be True and English Brain over there to go back to school. Soon enough, they will be nurses and school teachers.” Dean rolled his eyes and gave a side narrowed eyes look at Charles, who just gave him an innocent smile.

“You used to be more fun.” Tony frowned over at his childhood friend without any real conviction. It was really adorable and sweet to see the three men able to convince the strippers to have a better life.

“I am still fun, Tony. Just because I don’t sleep around and get constantly drunk anymore, doesn’t mean I am dull. You don’t do that anymore either.” Charles pointed out with a slight grin.

“Well, I have always been fun even before that phase of my life.” Tony stated smugly with a grin of his own.

“You were a scrawny, loud, obnoxious nerd, before that phase.” The Telepath continued to drink his tea, ignoring Tony’s indignant look.

“And you were a too small kid, who keeps freaking people out by reading their minds and speaking with heavy English accent to look cute!”

“See? That was more fun than you were.”

“You little-“

Tony’s loud voice managed to wake Steve and Castiel up, who raised their heads groggily and stared at each other, seeming not to recognize the other.

“Are you Tony?” Steve slurred, as he blinked heavily, not really awake yet.

“No, I am pretty sure he is shorter. With a beard? I don’t really remember.” Castiel murmured dazedly, barely able to keep his head up. “I am guessing you are not Dean then?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Steve frowned, then his eyes landed on their joined hands. “Why are we holding hands then?”

“I am not quite sure.” Castiel blinked stupidly at their hands, probably just noticing them. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“Yeah.” The captain muttered groggily.

They looked up at each other again, blinked for a few seconds, then shrugged and rested their heads again on the table, going back to sleep.

The others watched the exchange with blank faces.

“Dean?”

“Yeah, Tony?”

“I think we broke our husbands.”

Charles glanced at his snoring husband, then turned back to his friends.

“I think you broke mine in the process too.”

***

“I am panicking. I am really, really panicking.”

Muttered Sam repeatedly for the thousandth time in the past hour, as he stared hard at his face in the mirror.

He was in Dean and Castiel’s room, because Natasha kicked him out of their room, so she could get ready for the Rehearsal dinner that will start in a few hours.

The Rehearsal Dinner. That thing that usually comes a day before the actual wedding.

Which means the wedding was tomorrow.

Holy shit.

“I am panicking. I am really, really panicking.” He announced yet again as he started to pull at his tie, which was perfectly fine, but he needed to do something with his hands, and raking them through his hair wasn’t an option, since Tony spend a long time styling it for him and Sam hated ruining his fine work.

“Okay. Just stop. Stop.” Dean finally groaned from the bed, where he was sitting with Castiel, Steve and Tony, watching him silently as he panicked in front of the dresser’s mirror. “What exactly are you panicking about? The wedding and the fact that you are getting married to a woman that is a foot shorter than you and could kill you in two seconds, or worried something will go wrong?”

“What? Of course about something might go wrong!” Sam whipped around to look at his brother frantically. “And by the way, I find Natasha’s height and her skills very hot! That actually makes our nights together a lot more-“

“Woah, woah!” Both Steve and Dean exclaimed frantically, stopping him. “Getting into dangerous too much information territory over there, Sammy.” Dean continued with a grimace.

“Sorry, sorry.” Sam sighed and moved his hand unconsciously to rake it through his hair, but stopped himself when he saw Tony’s warning glare. “I just can’t shake the feeling that something is going to go very horribly wrong tomorrow. You know our luck, Dean! Good things don’t happen with us this easily!”

“You call this easy?” Tony raised an eyebrow indignantly at the younger Winchester. “You two almost died hundreds of times since the moment you met and years before that! It wasn’t easy to reach this day in one piece, dude.”

“Tony, the day after your wedding, you guys were attacked by a crazy, genius robot, who almost made a genocide by dropping an entire city on Earth!”

“In my defense, it was a disaster of my own making.” Tony winced at that, while Steve just sighed with a shake of his head. “I probably shouldn’t have made Ultron a few days before my wedding. That was just stupidity, not bad luck!”

“It was kinda bad luck.” Steve shrugged with an awkward smile. “We had to postpone our honeymoon, until we dealt with Ultron. It was frustrating.”

“Dude, we are trying to make him less panicked!” Dean gave him an unimpressed look.

“Well, that didn’t happen on the day of the wedding! Just the day after that, when we were having a small celebration party for being newlyweds and for taking down Hydra, I think. So it doesn’t count!” the soldier tried to reason.

“Yeah, that doesn’t help at all.” Sam said blankly with a frown Steve’s way, who shrugged at him apologetically with a wince.

“Sam, it’s going to be fine.” Castiel reassured, giving him a small smile. “Do you have any idea how many superheroes and hunters are going to be there? Whoever tries to do anything, will have a very bad day for it.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right.” The younger Winchester sighed, as his tense shoulders started to relax a little. “Maybe I am just being paranoid.”

“Sir, there are guests here that are asking for the Winchesters. I checked them and they are clean.” JARVIS’ voice sounded in the room.

“Send them up, Jay. Fast.” Tony ordered, as they all stood up from the bed.

“Come on, Sasquatch. I am pretty sure our guests will make you feel a lot better.” Dean grinned at him, as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and dragged him out of the room.

To be honest, Sam had no idea who was on the guest list. Natasha, Dean and Steve handled that part in the planning and he trusted their judgment, so he didn’t try to question it.

So, when the doors of the elevators opened revealing who were the first guests to arrive, he didn’t even bother to control the huge grin that spread across his face in pure delight.

“Boys.” Bobby greeted them gruffly, but the gruff tone was softened by the rare smile on his face. Jody next to him, grinning happily at them. “Glad to see you didn’t get yourselves killed yet, idjits.” 


	4. Chapter 4

Dean couldn’t wipe his grin, while he was pulling Bobby into a too tight hug. He didn’t see the guy for a while now, sue him for being a little emotional.

“You got soft while I was away, kid.” Bobby muttered gruffly, but his grip on him was just as tight.

He was back into their lives for only a few years now, after Amara brought him back to life as a goodbye gift before she left. Probably one of the best things that happened to them. The old drunk had left an irreparable hole in their lives, that having that hole filled again was amazing.

This was the first time Bobby was going to meet their new, awfully big, superhero family, since for the past year and half, Bobby wasn’t even in America. He was still trying to reconnect with all his contacts around the world to prove that he was alive and well again. So, they didn’t get the chance before now to get him to meet them.

Jody on the other hand, met Tony and Steve once on a hunt they invited themselves into, again. She was hooked from the moment she laid eyes on them. Charmed immediately by Steve’s polite sweetness and Tony’s charm. Soon enough, she was treating them like she was their mother. Watching her scolding Tony for doing something reckless in the hunt will forever be one of Dean’s favorite moments. Tony looking like a scolded child was absolute gold.

She also met Natasha a few times and a strong friendship was born from the very first moment, them being two very strong women and all that.

So that’s why she immediately let herself in and was currently hugging both Steve and Tony with delight on her face. Probably because Steve’s smile never failed to make her giddy.

It was really fascinating to see the Avengers fitting so easily with everyone in their lives.

“Glad you managed to keep these two alive this long, Feathers.” Bobby smiled, as he pulled Castiel into a hug.

“It was a very hard task; I can assure you. Almost failed a few times there.” Castiel chuckled, hugging him back, relaxing into the tight grip.

Bobby pulled away a little to tap the angel’s face playfully with his hand, his face soft. “It’s really good to see you well, boy.”

“You too, Bobby.” Castiel smiled softly at the man.

Now, that was another thing that Dean loved seeing. Bobby now considered Castiel his third son for years now, even before they got married. Even going as far as treating him softer than he treats Dean and Sam sometimes. He also almost always sides with the angel against Dean, when they argue about something. Grieved just as strong as Dean, every time the angel died. Not to mention the fact that Castiel will always be ‘Boy’ to Bobby, even though he was older than the dirt that made up this planet.

Bobby and Sam’s hug was longer and as emotional as the old grunt could manage anyway.

“I can’t believe I will finally see you as an honest man. You actually managed to find a woman who survived this long. I am so proud.” Bobby grinned. He patted Sam’s back hard in joy.

“Do you have any idea how hard that was? I was convinced I will die alone!” Sam laughed as he hugged Bobby just as tightly. His smile softened then as he buried his face in his shoulder. “I am so happy that you are here to see this, Bobby.”

“I won’t have missed it for the world, kid.” Bobby murmured quietly, tightening his grip on the younger Winchester. 

After they finally pulled apart, Dean wrapped an arm around Bobby’s shoulders and walked him towards Steve and Tony, who were waiting patiently to be introduced with nervous smiles on their faces.

Oh, right. That’s another amusing thing. Almost everyone were a little nervous about meeting Bobby. Especially Tony and Natasha. Mainly, because they know how important he was to the Winchesters and they genuinely wanted the old grunt to like them, even if they denied it. Dean found that amusing as hell, seeing Earth’s mightiest heroes wanting the approval of an old, grumpy drunk. It was adorable and heartwarming.

“You probably know them already from how fucking famous they are, but here we go.” Dean started as an introduction. “Bobby, this is Steve Rogers, a badass superhero slash a giant puppy, and this is his disaster of a husband Tony Stark, idiot by day, a nightmare by night.”

“You are terrible at this.” Tony deadpanned with a blank face and a glare. Dean just shrugged at him with a smirk, while Steve tried to keep his laughter in as he shook Bobby’s hand first.

“It really is nice to meet you, sir.” The captain started with a pleasant, polite smile on his face, that had Jody swooning in the background. “I heard a lot of great things about you and it’s great to finally be able to meet you in person.”

“Wow, it’s been a while since the last time someone called me ‘Sir’.” Bobby grunted in amusement as he shook the Captain’s hand. “You are as polite and puppy like as I heard from these three idjits and Jody’s endless ramblings about you.”

“I am starting to feel a little threatened, Jody. I am not great with sharing. You have to choose it’s either me or him.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows over at Jody, earning bitchfaces from around the room.

He winced as he turned back to Bobby to shake his hand. “Hi, I am Tony. I make jokes when I am nervous.”

“Oh, so that’s explains why you get along with him so well.” Bobby smirked as he gestured towards the oldest Winchester. “And explains why he keeps talking my ears off about you, when he isn’t talking about how gay he is for his husband.”

“Fucking hell, Bobby! I don’t talk about him! I barley even mention his name!” Dean exclaimed frantically, face red in embarrassment. Castiel and Sam were giving him small smirks.

Dean’s embarrassment and Tony’s smugness were interrupted, when Natasha finally came into the room, followed by Charlie, Raven and Pepper. Angel was following behind the women, wriggling his tail excitedly. 

They all stared at her with wide grins. She was wearing a beautiful, long black dress that fit her nicely. Her hair loose around her shoulders in soft curls. She had let it grew longer than she usually keeps it and it looked amazing on her.

Natasha came to a stop in front of Bobby. Her face didn’t show anything as she smiled pleasantly at him, but her eyes were eyeing him nervously. Understandable, since she wasn’t exactly that good with first impressions.

Bobby gave her a very uncharacteristic soft smile, that made the three Winchesters gape at him, as he approached the red head.

“Well, you are certainly more beautiful than I imagined.” Bobby stated with his smile still intact as he took her hand in both of his. “How did you end up with that building of a puppy? You are way out of his league.”

“That’s what I said!” both Tony and Dean said in unison with matching smug grins, earning a bitchface from Sam and an amused smile from Bobby.

Natasha smiled gently at Bobby as she squeezed his hand. “I decided to take pity on him. He made an adorable, sad puppy face.”

“Wow, thanks. Exactly what I needed to hear a day before _our_ wedding.” Sam gave her a raised eyebrow, but the corner of his mouth was turned up in a failed attempt to hide his smile. Natasha just looked up at him with the smile she only preserved for him and he melted like the huge puppy he was.

Soon the rest of the team finally emerged from their rooms, dressed in their suits and came over to greet Bobby and Jody.

The meeting was nice and hilarious. Bruce was all politeness and soft smiles. Clint and Bucky were on their best behavior for a change, which weirded Dean out. Thor, however, scooped both Jody and Bobby enthusiastically in his arms, while hollering how happy he was to meet more of the Winchesters’ family, Jody was amused, Bobby not so much.

It was still a few hours before the Rehearsal dinner actually starts, so they had time before the rest of the guests came. They spent that time watching Bobby interact with their new family, while holding their breath in anticipation. Jody already fitted right in, standing by the kitchen with Natasha, Charlie, Raven, Pepper and even Steve, looking like they were having a good time. Jody, as usual, was charmed by Steve, judging from the starry-eyed look she was giving him.

Bobby seemed to be starting to get along with Tony the most. The genius was trying hard to get the old hunter on his good graces, Dean really appreciated the effort Tony was doing. It was sweet how the genius was always careful to welcome anyone the Winchesters considered family.

Soon enough, the X- family made their presence.

Charles and Erik walked out of the elevator, followed by Logan and hank, all of them dressed in nice suits. Charles always looked annoyingly good in anything he wears. In a suit? He looked otherworldly. It was probably a British thing or something.

The Telepath was walking with his arm locked with Erik’s. Charles refused to use crutches or even a temporary wheelchair, until his legs gained their full strength back. So, he compromised with Erik to use him as his crutch instead when walking got too much for him, much to the Metal binder’s joy and relief.

Dean had to grudgingly admit more often now that they make a cute couple, despite their harsh lives.

“Sorry we are a little late. It took a while to convince Logan to get into a suit.” Charles apologized with a pleasant smile, while giving the aforementioned mutant a pointed look.

“I hate suit monkeys! It makes me look like an idiot.” The large mutant grumbled.

“You don’t need a suit to look like that.” Erik muttered under his breath, not really bothering to lower his voice much.

Logan turned sharply towards him, but before he could open his mouth, Charles cuts in to defuse the situation smoothly like always.

“Oh, look! we have two new faces here.” the telepath stated with a charming smile as he removed his arm from Erik’s and made his way towards Bobby, who stood up to shake his hand. Charles took his hand in both of his. “You must be Bobby Singer! I heard quite a lot about you. All good things of course. It really is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Charles Xavier, and that sulking, handsome man over there is my husband Erik Lehnsherr. The angry man is Logan and this is Hank McCoy.”

To say that Bobby was charmed by Charles’ politeness and enthusiasm was an understatement. He was soon smiling and talking with the telepath like they were old friends reconnecting. It seemed like Charles had a second nature of charming anyone he meets without really trying too hard. That kind of explained how he managed to make a walking fridge like Erik to fall for him so fast.

Jody too only took two seconds of resistance to Charles’ sweetness, then she was putty in his hands too. Erik just chose to have a minimal conversation with Bobby, because of several pointed glares directed at him for his silence, mainly from Tony and Charles.

It was fun to watch the all-time angry mutant interacting with the grumpy old hunter. It was both painful and hilarious to watch.

They spent hours like this, until finally it was time for the Rehearsal Dinner and the guests already started to arrive and soon enough, the penthouse was full of people.

It was a long debate on who was invited to the wedding. Since the Winchesters didn’t exactly have much of a family left outside he ones they already live with, the only ones who they actually wanted to bring were Bobby and Jody. Natasha in return, didn’t have a family outside of them, so she invited many people from S.H.I.E.L.D, including Coulson, Maria and sadly Nick Fury, who was surprisingly on his best behavior so far, well, as best as he could be anyway. Of course, Sam Wilson was here too, along with Rhodey and Jane Foster. Pepper was the one to send the invites. In fact, Pepper did help Natasha a lot in the wedding planning stuff and the guest list, since the woman was so fucking organized it was terrifying.

“What’s on your mind?” a familiar, welcoming voice interrupted his thoughts, and he looked over to see Castiel siding up next to him with a smile that he couldn’t help but return, it was impossible not to really.

“Nothing really. Just watching the craziness happening in the room right now.” Dean just shrugged as he trailed his eyes around, feeling amusement mixing with a feeling contentment as he watched his family around the room.

He could see Sam and Natasha walking around and talking to everyone with smiles on their faces. They always looked good together, even with Sam towering over her with a huge amount of inches, but they just fit together despite that. They complete each other in every way possible, it was just amazing to see.

Right now, they were standing with Bobby, Jody, Raven and Charlie, seeming to be bullying Sam or something from how red his face was.

On the couches, Thor, with his arm wrapped tightly around a grinning Bruce, was telling loudly the story of the demons possessing them a few months ago in an enthusiastic voice to Jane, Pepper and Maria, who were listening with widening eyes.

By the bar, Clint, Bucky, Wilson and Rhodey were in a long argument, probably included a deep invasion on Bucky and Wilson’s sex life, judging from their incredulous faces. 

In a corner, there was Hank discussing something animatedly with Coulson, while Fury and Logan watched with disguised boredom.

The atmosphere was warm and comfortable, that Dean felt himself relaxing even more, as he leaned against Castiel and sighed contently. The angel wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him closer and kissing his temple gently.

“Sam is getting married, Cas.” Dean murmured with a small smile, as he watched his brother and his soon to be sister in law. “I never thought I will live to see this day.”

“Yes, Dean. He is.” Castiel smiled too as he looked over at Dean with a warm look in his eyes. “It’s about time.”

“My baby brother is getting married. To an ex-Russian assassin. I couldn’t be more proud.” He sighed as he leaned his head against Castiel’s shoulder. “They grow up so fast.”

The angel leaned his head against Dean’s as they both watched the younger Winchester from afar. “He waited a long time for this. He deserves every ounce of happiness he could get.”

“Yeah, he does.” Dean murmured, as he closed his eyes and burrowed closer to the angel’s warmth.

They rarely get a moment of peace like this. Hopefully, it will remain until after the wedding tomorrow.

“Hey, Kin Doll, you getting sleepy or something? Are you getting too old for partying?” Tony’s obnoxious voice pulled him out of his contentment, and he looked up to mock glare at him, but the genius just smirked as he handed him one glass of champagne from the two he was carrying. Steve behind him also holding two glasses, watching in amusement as he handed Castiel a glass too.

“Isn’t this beyond your bedtime, Old Man? Senior citizens shouldn’t be awake till this late.” Dean shot back as he accepted the glass.

“Tony and I are the same age, are you suggesting I am an old man too, Dean?” Charles announced his presence as he and Erik approached them. The Metal Binder’s arm was wrapped tightly around his waist, while the Telepath was leaning heavily against him. Obviously getting too tired to stay on his feet, but too stubborn to sit down.

“That should be good.” Tony’s smirk widened as he leaned back against Steve, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“What? No! you are not- I mean- obviously you are not- I will shut up now.” Dean groaned in defeat, making all the others chuckle at his misfortune.

“Serves you right for calling me old, Ducky Lips.” Tony grinned as he sipped his drink.

“God, that nickname somehow gets worse every time you say it.”

“I will never stop using it, until the day I die.”

Steve toned out their bickering like always and looked over at Castiel and the mutant couple.

“Big day tomorrow.” Steve started with a smile, eyeing the soon to be wed couple from across the room. “Hopefully, it will go smoothly.”

“It’s a wedding. These things rarely go smoothly.” Erik snorted as he sipped his champagne, smirking when Charles jabbed him lightly with his elbow.

“Thank you, Erik, for your optimism. You are always a ray of sunshine.” Castiel rolled his eyes at the mutant, while Steve just shook his head.

“And yet, I still don’t know what my part in the wedding is.” Tony announced with a pout that made him look like a five-year-old. “This is starting to get on my nerves.”

The other five men hid their amused smirks. Dean, Steve and Castiel obviously knew what Natasha was planning for Tony. Charles probably caught it from one of their minds and told Erik, so they know too. Everyone knew really, except for Tony himself.

“She will probably tell you tomorrow, so be patient.” Steve stated with a barley hidden smirk.

“I have been patient! For more than-“

“Sir! Something is happening.” JARVIS’ urgent voice cut off Tony’s petulant rant and making all of them stand at attention.

“Something? what do you mean by something, what happened?” Tony asked with furrowed brows. They all watched him carefully.

“Sir, there’s an- I can’t- I am sorry, sir, I can’t-“ with that JARVIS’ voice faded away without completing the sentence.

“Jay? Jay, where did you go? Hey!” Tony called anxiously, but got no answer.

“Tony, what’s going on?” Steve asked with a worried frown.

“I don’t know. I think someone is trying to get pass JARVIS or something.” Tony looked anxious and rattled. 

“I think they already got passed him, Tony.” Erik’s strained voice announced, as he stared straight ahead, his entire body tense.

They followed his line of sight, only to tense as well in barley restrained panic.

The elevator’s doors burst open, revealing a small army dressed in black and armed by weird looking machine guns, led by three masked figures and a fourth figure in a metal suit.

A suit identical to the Iron Man suit. Except it was in black.

One of the masked figures stepped forward and raised their right arm up towards his army, then said in a deep, oddly familiar voice:

“Kill them all.”

The machine guns were immediately raised towards all the people in the room and fired. 


	5. Chapter 5

Over hundreds of bullets were fired at the same moment, ready to wipe them out.

But the bullets froze in midair right before it could touch anyone.

Seriously, it was pointless to fire a gun while Erik Lehnsherr was in the room. It was just a waste of time and energy.

The mutant just raised a hand calmly, stopping the rain of bullets in less than a second, then with a straight face and a flick of his fingers, returned the bullets to their owners.

Some of them fell and others got their weapons blown away, while the three masked figures and the one in the metal suit weren’t even affected or deterred.

“Attack!” one of the masked figures shouted again. Yet again, the voice sounded really familiar, but Tony couldn’t place his finger on it from the amount of vicious cruelty in it. “Kill them all! Leave no survivors.”

Honestly? He was more interested in the one in the metal suit. Feeling his heart pounding painfully, when he saw how identical it was to his own suit.

This couldn’t be possible.

Everyone moved at the same time.

The three masked figures stepped forward. Then, the weirdest and most confusing thing happened.

One of them sprouted out two huge black wings, that also were erringly familiar, but they were mostly covered with metal armor that spread over the black feathers.

Another masked figure grabbed a circular shield, that was strapped to their back, then attaching it to their arm, in a move that was so familiar, that Tony froze mid action. The last one remained motionless, obviously the one in charge, and just yelled their orders at the small army. 

“Get everyone who is unarmed or doesn’t fight out of here!” Steve shouted, immediately entering his Captain America mode, not letting the familiar moves faze him, as he, Castiel and Dean charged forward without hesitation, while the Captain continued shouting his orders. “Tony, get a suit and my shield, now, then deal with the one in the metal suit! Erik, disarm them and hold off their bullets! Dean and Natasha, get the one in charge, I will deal with the one with the shield. Everyone else, get the others out and deal with the army. Cas, you-“

“-handle the winged one.” Castiel cut him off firmly, as he sprouted out his own wings and Tony couldn’t help but stop and stare.

The wings were identical! Castiel’s and the masked figure had the exact same wings!

Tony’s heart started to pound loudly in his chest as he summoned a suit.

He stupidly chose to not place the arc reactor suit on his chest for the party, and he was regretting the decision violently right now.

He ducked away from the fight as he waited for his suit, and watched the scene around him.

It was chaos. Absolute chaos.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Natasha yelled as she angrily ripped the side of her long dress, so she could fight easier, enraged at the attackers for ruining the day, and then she was fighting her way with Dean by her side, towards the masked figure in charge.

Meanwhile, Charles was helping Coulson and Bruce in filing out the unarmed shield agents, Pepper, Charlie, Jody and a very stubborn Bobby, who was insisting to fight, but a few words from Charles got him helping in getting the others out. All the while, Raven fighting off anyone who gets near them as she cleared the way for them.

Bucky, Rhodey, Wilson and Clint were immediately on the move, even unarmed, as they attacked the armed soldiers charging at them and fought against them viciously. Soon, they were joined by Logan, who pulled out his claws and Hank, who turned into his furry blue monster self.

Sam, obviously just as frustrated and enraged as his soon to be wife, attacked the soldier closest him, disarmed him and used the stolen gun to rain bullets at the other soldiers angrily. Behind him, Thor had summoned his hammer and started to threw the soldiers around just as angrily.

Castiel and the winged, masked figure rose from the ground slowly, as they sized each other up.

“Who are you?” Castiel demanded in a strong voice, eyes never leaving the other.

“Come and find out.” The figure answered in a strange voice, they probably have a voice changer in the mask they were wearing under the hood that was covering their head.

Castiel gave them a long look, before suddenly flying through the large windows and away into the sky, the figure following him in equal speed. The angel probably thought it’d be better to take that fight away from them, in case things got ugly. Which was the smartest move to do at the moment.

Tony’s eyes had just landed on his idiot of a husband, charging unarmed at the masked figure with the shield, without bothering to wait for his own shield to come with the suit, when the one in the metal suit landed suddenly in front of Tony and raised their hand towards him, ready to blast him.

***

Castiel made sure that he was far enough from the tower, before he finally turned to face his pursuer.

The moment he turned around, he found himself being tackled in an unhuman speed right into the side of a skyscraper.

He hit the building hard, along with the thing he was fighting, but moved away fast before the punch directed at him landed on his face, and he watched the fist making a hole into the building, before grapping the winged figure hard and threw them towards the sky. 

***

Erik saw the masked figure in charge pulling out a bow that looked suspiciously like the one Clint has, and started to shoot explosive arrows at his family.

One of the arrows was pointed directly at Charles and Erik saw red. He stopped the arrow, right before it even touched his husband, and threw it at a group of soldiers that were fighting with Raven.

He turned back towards the masked bastard, but saw that they were busy fighting with both Dean and Natasha and he figured they could handle it.

A movement to his left caught his attention. He looked over, only to see a fifth masked figure, that was keeping themselves hidden all that time, charging with two swords towards Charles and the unarmed group of people.

“Oh, hell no.” he growled as he charged towards the overly tall figure.

***

“Nice suit. Where did you steal it from?”

Tony asked coldly, as he stared unflinchingly at the metal suit in front of him. He really did chose the wrong day to not attach his arc reactor to his chest.

Whoever inside the suit let out a chuckle, that made a shiver run down Tony’s spine from how chilling it was.

“I made it myself, Bird brain. But I made the colors more suitable for me.” The voice mocked as he stepped towards Tony, his hand still raised towards him. “I am not sorry to say this, but you have to die in this fight, buddy. The two of us can’t exist in the same world. It’s too much for everyone’s brains and sanity.”

“Then I guess you just have to go back to whatever hellhole you came from.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him. _Where the hell was his suit?!_

“The only one going to a hellhole is you.” with that he attacked.

Tony ducked and rolled away from the too strong repulsor blast, that was sure to turn his head to ash if he was slow enough, just when his suit finally crashed into the room, while holding Steve’s shield in its hands.

His suit merged into him, just when the metal clad figure turned towards him again.

“Steve!” Tony called for his husband and threw the shield towards him.

After making sure that Steve caught the shield easily, he turned to face the black Iron figure.

***

Steve charged, unarmed, towards the masked figure carrying the black shield.

He didn’t make himself stop and think about how familiar that figure was carrying themselves. Or how the wings of the winged figure were identical to Castiel’s. Or even the fact that there was one wearing an exact replica of the Iron Man suit.

No, he couldn’t think about any if that at the moment. If he did, it will slow him down and he couldn’t afford that at the moment. His family was being threatened and attacked. After everyone was safe, he will think about all that.

The one with the shield turned towards him in the last second, and blocked his fist with the shield. Steve felt pain shot up his arm, when his fist connected with the hard, familiar metal and he hid his wince.

That was Vibranium. There was no doubt about that. Steve had his shield long enough to know the rare metal anywhere. Not to mention that usually, his fist was enough to put an indent in any other metal with almost no pain at all.

That thing was fighting with an exact replica of his shield.

Nope, he can’t stop and think about that. Nope.

He engaged with the figure, still frustratingly unarmed. In any other moment, that wouldn’t be a problem, since he was perfectly capable of fighting bare handed, but this fight was increasingly frustrating and confusing to Steve.

The thing predicted every move he made, then either blocked it or countered with one of Steve’s own moves. No matter what Steve did, the thing predicted it like it was a second nature to them.

“Steve!” he looked up at the sound of his name in Tony’s voice and saw his shield flying towards him.

He immediately jumped and caught his shield easily, then landed back on his feet to face his frustrating enemy.

***

Dean and Natasha finally managed to fight their way towards the masked figure in charge, who was busy shooting fucking explosive arrows around mercilessly.

Without stopping to think, they both attacked at the same time. Natasha and him always worked great together. They read each other well and fast during battles, that they don’t even need to stop and discuss their moves, they just charge head first, counting on the other to catch up fast enough.

The masked bastard wasn’t caught off guard, despite their sudden attack, they just turned and blocked both attacks easily, like they were just swatting a fly.

That didn’t stop them though. They both were equally enraged at the ruining of that special day.

Fucking hell, they couldn’t even get one happy day without it ending bloody.

Dean was never more glad about his habit of always carrying a knife on him. Thankfully, his future sister had the same habit.

He and Natasha both pulled out their hidden knives and attacked again.

The fucking masked figure seemed to be completely unbothered by their attacks. They just dodged and blocked their attempts, then strike them just as easily. That seemed to frustrate Natasha even more as she growled and jumped at the masked bastard.

She was grabbed by her throat, before she could even lay a finger on them, then Dean find himself tackled to the floor when she was thrown at him violently.

***

Erik was moving forward with pure rage alone, as he saw the tall, masked figure walking purposefully towards Charles, like it was his mission or something.

Now that Erik thought about it, two of the masked, hooded figures came after Charles so far. Was it possible that part of this attack was to take out the telepath or something?

Even if it was. He would die before he let anyone lay a finger on his husband. Whoever planned this, clearly forgot about his existence.

The last mistake they will ever do.

By then, Charles had managed, with Raven and Bruce’s help, to clear out everyone who wasn’t armed or in a shape to fight, however, the telepath seemed reluctant to leave without helping the ones actually fighting.

Just when the telepath turned around to see who needed help, he found himself face to face with the tall masked figure, facing their two huge swords.

When one of the swords was raised towards his husband, Erik came between them and stopped the swords midair with his powers.

The figure turned towards him, looking shocked and caught off guard, which confused Erik for a moment. He didn’t really try to keep his powers a secret, and everyone who knew about Charles, in addition, must know about him and his powers.

If these people were coming after Charles, they should know about him.

He took this to his advantage, however. He used the swords and made them twine around the tall figure’s upper body like vines, effectively paralyzing him from the waist up.

But not from the waist down.

The figure, suddenly, snapped into motion, charging towards Erik at full speed, catching the metal binder off guard without having time to move away from the wall of muscle running towards him.

But right before the large figure collided with him, Erik heard a thud, then the figure dropped by Erik’s feet, unmoving.

The mutant looked up, to see Charles standing with a stolen machine gun in his hand, which he used it’s butt to hit the back of the figure’s head.

“You know, I am starting to like how amazing you look when you save my ass.” Erik commented, feeling a smile creep on his face, as he marveled at the sight of his husband with a machine gun in his hand and a serious look on his face.

“Now you know how I feel when you do it.” Charles smiled back at him as he dropped the gun to the floor, still not that comfortable with carrying weapons. “I think we just got ourselves a worthy prisoner, who, hopefully, will explain this attack.”

***

Things were in pure chaos.

Tony still engaging with the other figure in the metal suit, and the fight seemed endless, since apparently both suits and owners, erringly had the same strength and moves. 

Same thing in Steve’s fight with the one with the shield, no hope in either of them backing down, even if the fight seemed to go on forever.

Dean and Natasha still attacking the third masked figure, who didn’t waver or even get tired from their continuous attacks.

Around the room, the others were still taking down the black army, that seemed to never stop coming, no matter how many of them they brought down.

Erik was disarming the soldiers and using their own guns at them, while Charles was trying to get into their attackers’ minds, but for some unknown reason, he couldn’t. He was getting radio silence from all of them.

That army came here way too prepared for them. like they knew them inside out. That was terrifying on its own. 

***

Castiel was still fighting the winged figure in the sky of New York, but the fight seemed to go on forever without either of them even thinking about backing down or stopping.

The angel hated to admit it, but his rival was strong. Too strong that he was equal to him in strength and speed, it was alarming.

No, what was more alarming was that the figure was using Castiel’s same fighting techniques, copying them perfectly and effortlessly, that it caught him off guard for a second.

Apparently, a second was enough for the other.

He suddenly felt a hand wrap around his throat tightly, then he was thrown hard towards the Avengers Tower.

He crashed hard into the roof of the penthouse, right in the middle of the still ongoing fight.

He hit the ground hard, feeling like every inch of his body raging in pain.

He heard Dean calling his name frantically. He could also see Erik get hit in the head by some debris from the roof and drop to the floor unmoving, with a frantic Charles rushing towards him. Clint and Hank were also hit by the debris, but the angel couldn’t see the damage it did to them.

He heard the sound of feet landing behind him, and he gritted his teeth in rage.

“Stay down.” The winged figure ordered harshly and stood over him mockingly.

Castiel felt rage rise through him as he stared at the floor in front of him. Felt his grace reacting to his rising anger.

When he heard the figure getting closer, he suddenly got to his feet, turned around with his palm raised up and fired his grace at the figure’s face with burning intensity.

He heard the winged figure’s muted shout behind their mask, as they stumbled back in complete disorientation.

Castiel took the opportunity to grab them by their head and punched their middle with every ounce of strength inside, then watched in satisfaction as they flew across the room, only to land hard on the floor and curl into themselves while clutching their middle in agony.

“No!” a loud, harsh scream sounded in the room, coming from the masked figure fighting Dean and Natasha, who now completely ignored his two attackers and focused solely on the curled up winged figure.

They suddenly broke away from Dean and Natasha, then rushed over to the winged one to carry them over their shoulder frantically. 

“Retreat! All soldiers retreat!” they shouted firmly, as they moved back.

The soldiers, the one with the shield and the one in the metal suit, immediately fell back after the command. A bright white light, then, shined in the room, blinding everyone for a few seconds.

When they opened their eyes carefully again, the army and the masked figures all disappeared just as suddenly as they appeared.

They all looked at each other, stunned. Having no idea what the hell just happened and why.

“Well, this isn’t the toasts I expected to happen in the Rehearsal Dinner.” Sam sighed tiredly, while pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “They couldn’t even let me get married first before dealing with this shit.”


	6. Chapter 6

They all froze for a few more minutes, before they all sprung to action suddenly.

“What the hell just happened?!” Tony uttered, as he stared with pure shock at where their attackers where just a few seconds ago.

If it wasn’t for the chaos in the room and the fallen soldiers strewn around, he would have thought that they imagined the whole thing.

“Cas!” Dean exclaimed as he rushed towards the angel, who collapsed to his knees immediately after their attackers disappeared into thin air.

“I am fine.” He ground out in both pain and frustration, when Dean grabbed at him in worry. “Erik, Clint and Hank are the ones that not alright; they were hit by the debris when I crash landed here.”

“Fuck!” Steve cursed as he rushed towards the fallen Erik with a frantic Charles by his side. “Natasha, check on Clint. Sam, check Hank.”

“Yes, that’s the couples thing I wanted to experience in the night before my wedding.” Sam muttered bitterly as he did what he was told.

“How is he?” Steve asked Charles as he kneeled on the floor next to them, panicking a little as he saw Erik’s face covered in blood.

“He hit his head hard.” Charles answered bitterly, as he wiped the blood from his husband’s face and head to check on the wound. “I don’t think it’s serious, but it was enough to knock him out immediately.”

Steve exhaled as he looked around their ruined home, feeling fatigue fall over him from the sudden turn of events. The fight may have taken only a few minutes, but it was enough to ruin their night. Maybe even their entire year.

He saw as everyone spread around the room, checking for survivors in the sea of fallen soldiers around. Dean helping Cas back to his feet, who looked frustrated and angry more than pained. Natasha was checking on Clint, who managed to get a dislocated shoulder from the debris falling on him, while Sam was with Hank, who looked thankfully alright despite the debris that hit him in the back. Angel was coming out from under a table, where he was hiding during the whole fight, looking terrified,

Tony just remained standing in his place, still in his suit but with helmet off, a deep frown on his face as he seemed to be thinking hard about the whole thing.

He looked back at Charles, who was watching him with careful eyes after he managed to wipe away as much blood as he could from his husband’s face and wound.

Steve gave him a faint smile, deciding to just direct his jumbled thoughts towards the telepath instead of voicing them, finding it easier that way, as he proceeded in bandaging the metal binder’s head, when Natasha brought him the first aid kit. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t deep or serious. Hopefully, Erik will wake up soon, since they couldn’t afford to deal with this without him. They need all the help they could get.

Now, that the fight was over, he finally allowed himself to think about the things he put aside while fighting.

Like the fact that he fought someone who fights exactly like him with a replica of his shield. The fact that a fucking replica of his husband’s Iron Man suit appeared and fought them. Not to mention the winged one, who suspiciously almost over powered Castiel, while sporting a very familiar pair of wings.

However, he had no idea what their leader is. They were really strong and skilled that they managed to not even be bothered by Natasha and Dean’s attacks.

These two were one of the best fighters ever. If they couldn’t defeat him, then they were all in trouble.

“Hey, Steve?” he looked up at Charles when he called out to him, only to see a hesitant look on his face. “I am sorry, I completely forgot to mention something in my haste to treat Erik.”

“What is it?” Steve frowned, as he stared at the telepath in confusion.

“There was a fifth masked person. Erik and I knocked him out, tied him with their own swords and hid him so his comrades wouldn’t notice his absence soon enough.”

Steve blinked back at his sheepish friend, not sure how to react to this delayed information.

“I should have mentioned before, shouldn’t I?” Charles winced in guilt at the captain’s look.

“Uhm, yeah kinda?”

“Sorry?”

***

“I can’t believe you actually build an entire floor of glass dungeons.”

Dean muttered as he trailed his eyes over the impenetrable, steel enforced, large glass cubes that lined next to each other in the entire floor, acting as a highly qualified prison that could make even SHIELD jealous.

“What? You have a dungeon in the bunker, why can’t I build one too?” Tony frowned indignantly, like Dean was denying him the last piece of pizza or something. “Besides, the Avengers should have a dungeon for situations just like this. Yours is for locking up supernatural beings, while this is for super villains and aliens. See? Important!”

“Hey, I don’t care even, if you decided to build a sex dungeon.” Dean sighed in defeat to silence the loud rambling of Tony’s voice.

The genius frowned in thought at that and was about to replay, but Steve cut in.

“No, Tony, you are not building a sex dungeon.” Steve raised an eyebrow at him warningly.

“I wasn’t planning to! You can at least give me the option.” Tony pouted petulantly, making the two men sigh with a shake of their heads.

“Anyway,” Steve rolled his eyes, before he landed his gaze at the glass prison that held their only current prisoner, still unconscious on its floor. Damn he was too fucking tall, it was a miracle the large glass cube fit him at all. “Did anyone try to remove their mask?” 

“It won’t come off.” Dean frowned in frustration, as he glanced at the complicated looking mask on their unconscious prisoner. It covered their entire head, not just the face. “We tried everything, it just refusing to budge.”

“Damn.” Steve sighed then turned to Charles, who was silent the entire time since they rested Erik in the med bay with a very nice concussion. Bruce assured them that he will be waking up soon though.

He blinked for a second, he was sadly still getting used to the fact that he no longer had to look all the way down to glance at the telepath. Having him walking around more easily as the days pass, as much as it was a blessing, it still needs getting used to.

“Charles? Are you getting anything from their mind?”

  
“No.” Charles muttered, looking frustrated as a deep frown marred his face. “Nothing.”

“How is that possible?” Tony blinked at him in confusion. “They aren’t even dreaming? Their brain shut down completely like that?”

“No, it’s not like that.” Charles sighed in defeat, looking exhausted and a little pale. He was pushing himself too far in insisting to keep standing and walking, refusing to sit and rest his still healing legs. “I couldn’t get anything from the minds of the entire army. It frustrated me, until I finally figured out why, when I removed the helmet of one of the fallen soldiers.” He turned to look at them with a serious troubled look on his face. “The helmets and in addition, the full headed masks, are all made of the same material that made up Erik’s old helmet, that he used against me once upon a time.”

“Wait, the helmet that stopped your powers from reaching him?” Tony asked with wide eyes, understanding dawning on him.

“Yes, that’s the one.” The telepath muttered with a displeased frown. It’s a part of his life that he wished to forget.

“So, they were prepared for you.” Steve murmured with furrowed brows.

“Who are these people?” Dean glared at the unconscious body, like they were offending him by just existing. “They just march in into the tower like they own it. Managing to bring down fucking JARVIS, while they seemed to know us inside out and prepared to each one of our fighting styles.”

“Not all of us.” Charles shook his head, and they turned to him in surprise. He gestured towards the fallen body. “That masked thing seemed to be confused from Erik’s presence for some reason. Actually, they all were. If they knew about him, they wouldn’t have come armed by metallic weapons and bullets. They seemed to completely forget about Erik. He was the only one they didn’t take precaution against.”

“That’s weird.” Steve murmured in confusion. “Erik isn’t exactly subtle. Especially with his powers. If they know about you and prepared against your telepathy, they should, obviously, know about Erik. That doesn’t make sense.”

“This is getting more confusing with each passing second.” Dean sighed tiredly.

“So, I am guessing we have to postpone the wedding?” they turned at the dismayed voice of Sam, who appeared in the large metallic door that led into the dungeon, Natasha at his side.

“Yeah, I am so sorry, guys.” Steve glanced at them sadly, while Tony and Dean looked away with deep frustrated frowns on their faces. “Just until we find out who these people are and what they want.”

“And what are you doing to find exactly that?” Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow.

“So far, nothing.” Tony muttered as his eyes rested on the unconscious body. “I just managed to bring JARVIS back online and he is looking into how the hell did they manage to bring him down and through our defenses like that.”

“Also, whoever they are they surely know us pretty well. So, I think we should send Bobby, Jody and Pepper as far away from here as possible.” Steve stated firmly looking over at Sam to handle that.

“I don’t think Bobby and Jody will be okay with that.” Sam frowned in deep thought.

“Until we figure out what these people want, nobody is safe.”

The younger Winchester just nodded with a sigh, then bend down to place a soft kiss to Natasha’s lips, before leaving the room. She stared at his retreating back with a momentarily sad look in her eyes, then looked back at them.

“How did that winged thing was as strong as Cas?” she asked bluntly, looking deep serious, as she obviously was trying to hide her disappointment and sadness in postponing the wedding. “Obviously, I know that Castiel isn’t the only angel in the world, but he isn’t weak either, so if something as strong as him, then we are in trouble.”

“Not to mention their leader who managed to overpower you and Dean.” Charles commented, looking deep in thought. “But have you noticed how their leader immediately retreated when Castiel injured the winged one? They seemed to be really panicked.”

“What’s your point?” Steve asked curiously, trying to follow Charles’ line of thought.

“I don’t know, that leader seemed cold hearted and a vicious monster, why would they panic like that, if one of their soldiers was injured? They didn’t seem to care about the soldiers who had fallen. I don’t even think they noticed the absence of our current prisoner.”

“Do you think that leader only cared about the winged one?” Tony questioned in surprise.

“It’s just a thought. I can’t be too sure since they blocked my powers then, but that what it looked like.” The telepath just shrugged.

“I find it hard to believe that this monster could care about anything, if they decided to crash in and shot at unarmed, innocent people.” Dean muttered bitterly, anger bubbling in his eyes at the whole situation.

“Well, I think we are about to find some answers.” Steve announced, as he straightened up suddenly as he stared at the only occupied cell. “Our prisoner just woke up.”

***

Somewhere in New York on top of a skyscraper, stood four black figures, unseen in the night from their black clothes and masks that covered their entire heads.

One of them was holding their middle tenderly, before straightening up to face the other three unflinchingly.

“The angel was stronger than we anticipated.” The leader stated grimly as he looked at the injured winged figure.

“Next time, he won’t be so lucky.” They countered with cold, steely voice.

“I told you we should have waited until we are ready.” The one in a metal suit growled in anger, as he stared at the two of them through their helmet. The one with the shield stood next to them, frozen like a statue.

The leader raised their hand to press the side of their mask.

The mask disappeared from around their head to reveal their face.

The face of Dean Winchester of all people. 

“Opportunity knocked in the form of a pre wedding party.” The Dark Dean stated in a cold as ice voice as he stared at the armored one. “We answered.”

“Opportunity knocked and you answered.” The armored one scoffed in sarcasm, before also removing their helmet. Revealing a much darker version of Tony Stark. “And now because of your recklessness we lost Prometheus! They could be questioning him right now, or might even remove his mask. It will blow our cover! Only because you are a-“

Dark Dean’s hand shot up to grip dark Tony’s throat in a harsh grip, ignoring his startled choked gasp.

“Watch your tongue while you speak to me.” He ordered with a voice dripping with ice, no ounce of emotion on his face. Dark Tony was staring at him with wide eyes. “Don’t forget your place, Stark. I made you. Which means I can end you as well.”

“You two are directing your anger and power in the wrong place.” The winged one stated, a hint of amusement in their cold voice, as they and the one with the shield removed their masks. Castiel’s and Steve Rogers’ faces were revealed, with so much cruelty and coldness in their features, that at any other time would have looked completely out of place. “We will have another chance to achieve victory.”

Dark Castiel’s eyes trailed towards the far silhouette of Avengers Tower, gaze piercing as ice.

“And when we do.” He continued with a cruel glint in his eyes. “We will kill every last one of them. 


	7. Chapter 7

They all watched breathlessly, as the masked figure slowly got to their feet, annoyingly slow, like they were enjoying torturing them. 

“Bastard.” Dean muttered under his breath, as his eyes never left the figure. Anxious to see what’s under that fucking mask.

“Remove your mask.” Steve ordered in a firm voice, as he stared coldly at their prisoner. “This is the least you could do, after almost killing us. You should know that everyone in this building wants you dead. So, I suggest you cooperate. This will be much less painful if you do.”

The figure watched Steve unflinchingly from behind the reinforced glass for a few tense seconds, before they turned towards Dean for some reason.

Then slowly, so slowly, they raised their arm towards the side of the mask and pressed it.

The mask disappeared from their face, and everyone in the room froze. Unable to believe or understand what was looking back at them with a very cold, emotionless expression.

“Oh, God.” Natasha murmured in shock, taken completely off guard.

Dean didn’t blame her. Mainly because he himself couldn’t believe what he was looking at. No one could.

Because he was looking at his own brother’s face.

The man staring at them inside the glass cell, was none other than Sam Winchester himself, with a very uncharacteristic cold expression on his face.

“Hello, Brother.” He said in a cold, mocking voice, as he stared straight at Dean.

***

“I am not going anywhere, boy.”

Bobby repeated for the tenth time, as he stared stubbornly at the youngest Winchester.

They were all in the communal room, which thankfully remained intact from the attack.

Fury and all the SHIELD agents had left immediately after the fight to trace the attackers and find exactly who they were. Erik, Hank and Clint were in the Med Bay, so Bruce could deal with their injuries. The Metal Binder still didn’t wake up from his hit.

Raven, Charlie, Jody and Pepper were still next to each other on one of the couches as they watched the exchange, Angel sitting anxiously by their feet. Thor, Bucky, Rhodey and Sam Wilson were on another couch, looking worn with their suits ripped and disheveled from the fight, but couldn’t bring themselves to care about that at the moment.

Castiel and Sam were trying to convince Bobby to go with Jody, Pepper and Angel into a safe place. That wasn’t going very well.

“Bobby, please, we will be able to handle this on our own. We still don’t know what we are dealing with and we need you safe and away from this.” Sam tried again as he got a little desperate.

He was tired. So tired. Not only from the fight. It’s from the fact that apparently the universe wasn’t going to let him be happy for even a day.

He really, really wanted to get married tomorrow. He wanted to marry Natasha. He wanted his brother’s surely embarrassing best man’s speech. He wanted to go to their honeymoon. He wanted to tell Tony what his role in the wedding was and see his reaction to it.

He wanted to have what Dean, Tony and Erik had. A marriage. A happy marriage that even during the hard times, it remained strong and unshakable.

He wanted that with Natasha. He wants everything with her.

And the universe wasn’t letting him.

So, he was really, really not in the right state of mind to deal with Bobby’s stubbornness at the moment.

“I am not a damn damsel in distress, boy. I can handle anything and I am not leaving you alone in this.” The old hunter insisted stubbornly.

“We are not alone, Bobby.” Castiel stated in a gentle voice, trying to get their father figure to understand. “You shouldn’t be worried. We have all the help we can ask for. We only need you to be safe.”

“Yes, but-“

 _“Guys?”_ Tony’s voice sounded around the room, cutting off Bobby’s ranting. They all straightened up at the seriousness in his voice. _“You need to see this.”_

A holoscreen then appeared in front of them, showing them what was happening in the dungeon at the moment.

Their eyes widened as they landed on the prisoner’s _very_ familiar face.

They gawked as they trailed their eyes between the Sam on the screen and the Sam standing in the room with them right then. Not able to understand what’s happening.

“What the hell?!” Bucky exclaimed, as he and the others shot up to their feet.

“Why is there two of you?!” Pepper asked in confusion as she stared at Sam.

They were all more confused by the seemingly disinterested looks on Sam and Castiel’s faces at the whole scene, as they just stared at the screen in attention.

“Why are you two not affected by this?” Thor asked in confusion, watching their strange expressions.

“Honestly? Nothing really surprises me anymore.” Castiel just shrugged with a tired look on his face. “I expect anything by now. Besides, I kind of had my suspicions. Not many people are that tall with that build really.”

“And an army just crashed my Wedding’s rehearsal dinner.” Sam added with a tired sigh and a defeated look on his face. “I mean, if a Titan burst from one of the Tower’s floors, or aliens appeared from the bathroom, I won’t be really surprised.”

“You poor bastard.” Raven murmured as she and everyone else winced.

“Do you think he is from the future or something?” Wilson asked carefully, not wanting to sound like an idiot apparently.

“No, if it was, I would have known.” Castiel shook his head firmly. “I know Sam’s soul anywhere. I would have recognized it if this doppelganger came from our future, but this one’s soul, it felt familiar but different in so many ways that I didn’t recognized it.”

“Wait, so you mean-“

“He is from another universe.” Sam confirmed as he exchanged a look with Castiel, glad that they both had the same thought.

Everyone’s eyes widened at that.

“The Mirror World?” Charlie murmured carefully, unable to comprehend all this.

“No, our doppelgangers from the Mirror World can’t stay too long in our world, nor they could have their full strength like that, you all know that well.” Castiel shook his head at the question.

“This Sam came from another universe entirely. A completely different one from ours.” Sam announced, as he focused on the screen to watch the exchange between his doppelganger and their friends.

***

“Who are you?” Steve asked firmly, eyes trained on the prisoned man. Dean was glad that the Captain could still keep a level headed mind, facing that twist of events.

Dean and everyone else in the room? Not so much. They just kept standing their like idiots, trying to figure out how such a cold, cruel expression could be on that face they knew so well.

“I am Sam Winchester. In my world, they call me Prometheus.” The prisoned Sam answered coldly, no ounce of emotion on his face.

“Your world?” Tony repeated with wide eyes. “Are you saying you are from an alternate universe?”

“Yes.” He answered curtly without adding anything.

The five of them exchanged startled looks, they didn’t really expect him to be so blunt.

“Why did you come to our world?” Natasha asked sternly, seeming to finally get a hold of herself and join the interrogation. “What do you want? Why did you attack us?”

“Our world got a little boring and crowded.” The doppelganger stated with a mocking smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “We found a way to jump through different universes and we will conquer them all. Just like we conquered ours. Every universe will be ruled by the Fatherland!”

“Who is ‘we’? Who were the masked ones that came with you?” Charles was the one to ask that.

The doppelganger glanced coldly at him, like he was offended of the way Charles addressed his comrades.

“That’s my king and his generals. The one that will destroy you all!” he answered with sudden viciousness in his voice, that had them startled from its intensity. They couldn’t even believe that it was coming from that familiar face.

“What the hell happened to you?” Dean blurted out, unable to keep the question back anymore. “How did you become this? This can’t be you!”

The doppelganger turned sharply towards Dean, a vicious look in his eyes, filled with hatred that Dean never thought he will see in those eyes.

It shook him a little, even when he already knew that this wasn’t actually his brother.

“You don’t know me.” The doppelganger hissed at him in pure hatred. Seeming to snap at Dean’s words. “You are not my brother in this world. You are nothing compared to him! A fading, weak copy of him!” he slammed a fist against the glass, as he glared at Dean. “You had it easy! We didn’t! Since our bitch of a mother died, our psychopath of a father raised us to be just like him! We didn’t go to school. We didn’t live a single normal day. Just trained everyday mercilessly to be cold, bloodied killers, that don’t care about anything except bringing down anyone that came in our way. Human, monster we didn’t care. Everyone that comes in our way, death is their only fate. There is no other choice! We never had!”

Dean felt a cold shiver run through his body at the cruelty and viciousness in the doppelganger’s voice. He could feel that the others were also startled by it.

Sure, Dean and Sam’s lives here weren’t easy, but no matter what their father did, he wasn’t a psychopath like the doppelganger’s. He did a lot of wrong things, but he didn’t turn them into cold, bloodied killers. He just made them hunters. That’s a totally different thing.

“You have a choice now.” Dean found himself saying as he took a step closer to the cell, ignoring the warning looks the others were giving him. “In here, your version is a good man. The best there is. I believe that you still can be that. You can have a completely different life here. You can be whatever you want. Just fight with us and tell us where the king and his generals are.”

“He will kill me if I talk. He will kill everyone I love.” A sudden compassionate look appeared on the prisoner’s face, that had the others confused at its sudden appearance.

“I will not let that happen.” Dean said firmly, feeling like he was really starting to get through this copy of his brother in front of him. “I will stop him.”

“Do you think you can do that?” the Other Sam asked carefully, as he leaned with both his hands against the glass to look at Dean.

“I promise you that I can do that.” Dean confirmed confidently, as he took another step forward.

The doppelganger looked down for a few seconds, before an ugly smirk took over his face as he looked up again to stare at Dean with mocking eyes.

“Then you really are a special kind of idiot.” He growled in a deep voice, the smirk firmly on his face.

Dean startled as he stumbled back at the sudden change, he felt Tony’s hand on his shoulder, steadying him.

“Your naivety would be charming, if your weakness wasn’t so pathetic.” The doppelganger continued in a cruel, harsh voice; eyes trained on Dean.

“Is this how it is in your world? Everybody swayed by sentiment? Is everyone here really so weak?” he shook his head with a scoff. “The king will change that. The weak will be eliminated. Your entire world will be enslaved. But you, you-“ he pointed at Dean with a crazy cruel look in his eyes. “-You won’t be around to witness it. He is going to feel your skull crack under the weight of his boot. Everyone you care about, everyone you love, they are going to die horribly right in front of your eyes, in ways that would even give monsters nightmares, without you being able to lift a finger to help them.”

He let out a loud laugh, as he stepped away from the glass, watching the grim looks they were giving him.

“I really wish that I could live to see it, but no one get what they want.” He grinned, before reaching inside his mouth.

“No! Tony, open the cell!” Steve screamed suddenly, as he immediately understood what he was about to do. “He has a fucking suicide pill in his mouth!”

“Don’t! Sam, don’t! Wait!” “Stop!” Dean and Natasha shouted, as the doppelganger crushed the pill that was between his teeth into his mouth.

Tony opened the door fast, as the tall body crumpled to the floor. White foam gushing out of his mouth, before they even reached him.

Charles kneeled to check his pulse, but they knew the answer anyway.

He killed himself out of loyalty to his king.

They stood there, staring at each other, not knowing what to do next.


	8. Chapter 8

Somewhere in an abandoned storage in New York, stood the four dark doppelgangers.

Dark Castiel supervised, as he watched the other two opening boxes of materials, that were transported to them from their world.

Their king, Dean, was staring at a beeping device in his hand for a long moment, before the beeping finally stopped.

He froze for a moment, then his eyes moved away from the device as he clutched it in his fist. A flash of pain crossed momentarily in his eyes.

“He is gone.” He announced emotionlessly, without bothering to turn to his companions.

The other three stopped and turned to look at him.

“Who? Prometheus?” Dark Tony questioned carefully.

“The biosensor in his suit indicates that his heart stopped.” The king explained in a cold voice.

“He always seemed kind of soft to me.” The black Iron Man scoffed carelessly, as he turned a stern look to the black Captain, who immediately got back to work without any trace of change in his frozen expression.

The king didn’t comment on his sentence, as he just stared straight ahead, frozen in place.

“Dean?” the dark angel called out to the king, when he remained silent for too long.

“He died for you.” Dark Dean interrupted as he turned to look at the angel, and they shared a deep meaningful look. “And we will make his death worthwhile.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that now we are down a man.” Dark Tony stated grimly, as he trailed cold eyes between them.

“Keep your focus where it belongs and get to work on locating that prism.” The king growled dangerously, as he turned to the genius.

“Watch your tone, your majesty.” The genius said coldly as he stared him down. “Or I will watch it for you.”

The king stepped towards him and they eyed each other icily for a second, before he slammed him against the wall and pulled a knife from his belt to place it at the genius’ throat.

“Dean.” Dark Castiel called out warningly, while Dark Steve stopped working and trailed his eyes between them carefully.

The genius coughed as the breath was pushed out of his lungs at the harsh shove and looked up at the cold eyes staring down at him.

“Did you just tell me to watch my tone?” Dark Dean demanded, his voice making a cold shiver run up the other’s spine.

“You are angry.” Dark Tony observed as he trailed his eyes on the other’s face, before grinning at him. “I like it.”

“Don’t you mock me!” The king snapped in rage, pushing the knife to the genius’ throat, grazing it.

“Don’t threaten me.” The Dark Iron Man’s face turned deathly serious suddenly. “Or have you forgotten?” he trailed his eyes towards the captain, who was watching the exchange tensely. “The captain is more loyal to me than he is to you. If he feels my life is being threatened, he can end you, before you birth your next thought.”

“I will not be threatened by your fucking Sex Toy.” Dark Dean growled harshly, giving the captain a disdainful look.

Dark Steve took a step forward, but was stopped by the angel’s hand slapping him on his chest.

“Try it, once I break every bone in your body.” He sneered, as the captain turned to him and they both stared each other down unflinchingly, tension rising in the room.

“Okay, we are all a little emotional.” Dark Tony’s voice cut through the tension with a slight smirk. “Here’s what I suggest. I will tell my Sex Toy to stand down. You tell your angel to not break my toy. And you be 10% less brooding. What do you think?”

Dark Dean stared at him icily for a few more seconds, before drawing his knife away and took a few steps back. The other two did the same.

“We accomplish nothing by arguing amongst ourselves.” Dark Castiel stated firmly.

“The accomplishing nothing that has me concerned.” Dark Tony argued with a grimace. “We came here to conquer this world! Or have you forgotten?”

“Locate the Prism.” Dark Dean ordered firmly, as he turned towards him. “Once we have identified the location of the target, I will devise a plan of attack.”

“Fine.” Dark Tony relented, before turning his eyes to Dark Steve. “Follow me. I need to relieve some stress. All this tension is not good for my libido.”

He walked out of the room, the captain dutifully following behind.

Dark Castiel stepped closer towards the king.

“I am sorry about your brother.” He said, with no real emotion in his voice.

“He should have died in the fight, before he allowed himself to be captured.” The king stated dismissively, before he turned his gaze towards the angel. “Cas, we need that Prism. We are running out of time.”

“You have to trust the new plan, Dean.” The angel whispered, as he stepped closer to him. “You should. It’s yours.”

“And do you trust me?” he asked, as he trailed his eyes over the angel’s face.

“Yes. I always do. My king.” The angel answered firmly, staring back at dark Dean.

The king looked back at the angel for a few seconds, before they leaned towards each other to let their lips meet in a deep kiss.

***

Tony was staring with unseeing eyes at the holoscreen in front of him.

He couldn’t bring himself to completely focus on his work. His mind was occupied with the death scene of their prisoner.

It was so sudden, that no one of them had time to do anything on time. Even Steve, who immediately understood what the doppelganger was about to do.

Doppelganger. Here they go again.

He thought that he had seen everything, with all that stuff that happened with the Mirror World. The World that was almost destroyed completely and their doppelgangers saved them from the same fate.

He always believed in the multi-verse. It was logical and there were so many proofs of it, so he wasn’t exactly shocked that an alternate universe’s doppelgangers managed to find their way to them. 

What was actually shocking him was the fact that there was a world somewhere, that had a corrupt, cold bloodied, evil Winchesters. That’s something he would have never imagined in his wildest nightmares. Just imaging it was sending a cold shiver down his body.

He had an ongoing joke between him and Steve. That if the Winchesters and their angel ever decided to go dark and rule the world, they could do it with a rolled-up newspaper and a pocket knife.

What if in that world, this wasn’t just a joke? What if it was what exactly happened there?

The doppelganger seemed pretty loyal to the king, that he took his own life for him. Sam Winchester usually this loyal to one person only.

Could it be?

“Hey.” He looked up at the familiar voice greeting him, as the owner trudged into the room.

Speak of the devil.

“Hey, Ken Doll.” Tony gave Dean a distracted smile. Still not able to shake the devastated look in the older Winchester’s eyes when the doppelganger died. Sure, it wasn’t actually his brother, but the sight must have really shook him.

Hell, it even seemed to affect Natasha, who was constantly glued to her fiancé’s side since they regrouped with the others in the communal room.

Seeing a version of your loved one die right in front of you is a horrible thing to see, no matter how strong you are.

“Bruce and Hank are telling me you are trying to track down the AUer’s using some sort of dimensional thing?” Dean asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he made his way inside the workshop.

“Dimensional vibrations. I will explain to you later. It won’t be hard for you to figure it out. We can also use quantum field analysis.” 

“I don’t know who gave you the idea that I have genius physicist tucked inside my brain.” Dean sighed with a shake of his head, as he turned his face towards a certain wall in the workshop.

Tony calls it Steve’s Wall Of Fame. Obviously, because it contains all Tony’s favorite Steve drawings. Every time his husband draws something so amazing like always, Tony would take it upon himself to hang it on that wall, so he would always be able to see it. It never failed to lift up his mood when he was at his lowest.

Because Steve puts all his love in his drawings and it shows so beautifully. Steve draws what he loves and feels. There was one that shows Tony, deep in his work, surrounded by hundreds of holoscreens. Another showed Dean and Castiel, grinning like idiots with their arms wrapped around each other. Another showed Charles and Erik smiling sweetly at each other. A drawing of Sam and Natasha supposedly on their wedding, with Natasha in her beautiful wedding dress. A drawing that showed their entire family, smiling and happy. One with Dean and Tony arguing like five-year olds. Another that showed Sydney, with all her brunette, freckled, green eyed beauty. And so on.

They were all Tony’s favorite, and they all took residence on that wall, surrounding a framed picture of himself and Steve on their wedding.

He watched as Dean trailed his eyes over the drawings, looking far away from here.

“I am sorry about what happened earlier.” Tony finally broke the silence as he finally approached the subject that was killing him. “It must have been hard to see that. Maybe if I had opened the cell faster we could have-“

“Don’t. Don’t you dare to feel guilty about this.” Dean interrupted, as he turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. “That wasn’t Sam. He never was. Sure, it shook me a little to see that, but in the end, it wasn’t him.”

“So, if it wasn’t the doppelganger, what is getting you to be brooding like that?” the genius asked curiously.

Dean blinked back at him for a second, before moving to take a seat next to him with a sigh.

“Do you think Sam and I capable of being that cold bloodied bastards?” Dean asked suddenly as he turned fully towards Tony.

“Okay, I understand where this is coming from, understandably from what you just saw, but why the hell would you include yourself? There is no proof that their Dean was anything like their Sam.” Tony objected with a frown directed at his friend.

“And there is no proof that says otherwise.” Dean retorted with pursed lips, as he looked at one of the holoscreens. “If their John Winchester was anything as bad as what that doppelganger described, then there is no way their Dean would be any different from that Sam. Maybe even worse than him.”

“You are thinking too hard on this.” The genius raised an eyebrow at him. “Even if it was true. Why would this affect you in any way? Our world is different. You and your brother here are different. Just because a version of the two of you is corrupted in another world, doesn’t mean there is a corrupt part inside you that is ready to make an appearance at some point. This doesn’t defy you. Sure, your John Winchester wasn’t exactly a trip to the park, but theirs is ten times worse.”

“I have my bad moments, Tony. Really bad moments.”

“Who doesn’t? everyone in this building had bad moments. You won’t be human if you didn’t.”

Dean blinked at him for a while, before he smiled softly and clapped his hand on Tony’s back.

“Thanks, man. Really.” He murmured, not really looking at Tony.

“Just trying to get your head straight. I am not doing all this work on my own.” Tony just rolled his eyes and nudged his shoulder against Dean playfully. “Come on, I will get that small physicist out of your brain.”

***

Erik groaned as he started to wake up slowly, his head feeling like it was hit by a truck.

For a moment there, he had no idea what happened and why was his head hurting him this badly.

“Look who is finally awake.” A voice said fondly beside him and he immediately latched onto it.

Charles.

He opened his eyes carefully, despite the bright light that immediately burned his eyes, he managed to land his gaze on Charles’ gentle face as he sat beside him on the small bed in Med Bay.

“Hello, darling.” Charles smiled softly at him, as he traced a hand on his head gently. “You had me worried there for a while.”

“Sorry.” He murmured, voice too dry and his throat scratchy like sandpaper.

Charles heard that thought and immediately poured water for him from the side table and helped him to drink it.

“Thank you.” Erik whispered gratefully, his eyes trailing over Charles’ tired, gentle face. He will never get tired of looking at that face. He lived to look at it over and over again.

“You are more sappy than usual.” Charles commented with a soft chuckle, obviously hearing Erik’s thoughts.

“I would blame the pain killers, but the pain in my head suggest that I am not on them.” He retorted with a slight wince as he moved his head a little.

“Would you like some? I know you hate them, but maybe just this time?”

“No, no. I will be fine.” Erik shook his head carefully with a sigh. “How are you? Are you hurt? Anyone got hurt? What did happen after I blacked out?”

“So, to deal with the pain, you think sprouting question after question will help you?” Charles raised an eyebrow at him in amusement, but when Erik just narrowed his eyes at him, he relented. “I am fine, I didn’t get hurt. Hank and Clint suffered minor injuries. As for what happened next, that’s a long, weird story.”

“I have time.”

***

Three hours later, Steve and Castiel had made their way to the workshop to check on Dean and Tony’s progress.

They finally managed to convince Bobby to go to a safe place with Jody, Pepper and Angel, after Steve talked some reason with him. Steve could be ruthless when he wants something to happen and Bobby didn’t stand a chance.

Clint, Natasha and Sam had left to take them to one of SHIELD’s safe houses. Everyone else were still waiting around for the AUers to make an appearance, but so far nothing.

Which was why Steve and Castiel were in the workshop, to see if there was any progress.

“Hey.” Steve greeted tiredly as he walked towards his husband. Castiel quiet beside him. He had been quiet since the attack, which was worrying. It means that there was something on the angel’s mind that he was still not ready to share.

“Hey, handsome.” Tony greeted back with a smile, accepting the kiss that Steve placed softly to his lips.

Dean smiled when Castiel made his way towards him and the angel returned his smile, as they leaned in for a kiss of their own.

“Any progress?” Steve asked curiously, as he looked down at Tony.

“No. it’s like they disappeared in thin ai-“ an alarm sounded in the room suddenly and the four of them tensed and straightened up immediately.

“What is it?” Castiel asked with a frown, not sure what that alarm means.

“A break in at an Optical Systems lab.” Tony announced as he frowned down at a screen.

“I know this sounds terrible, but I am pretty sure even the police could handle that.” Dean stated with a raised eyebrow. “We need to focus on the AUers right now.”

“This is the AUers.” Tony said hastily as he stood up frantically.

“How do you know?” Steve asked carefully.

Tony just showed them a holoscreen, that showed one of the security cameras in the attacked lab. On the screen, soldiers dressed in black, were attacking the scientists there. 

“Let’s head out. Now.”

Steve ordered and the four of them rushed out of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Outside of the Optical Systems Labs, four figures landed.

Tony in his suit carrying Steve, while Castiel carrying Dean with his wings out.

The moment the four of them landed on the ground, Dean immediately threw up on the floor.

“Dammit, Cas! You didn’t have to fly so fast!” Dean whined as he kept cursing, while emptying his stomach.

“And you didn’t have to eat all that food earlier.” Castiel just rolled his eyes, as he tucked away his wings.

“Such a badass sight of you in your superhero suit, throwing up all over the floor.” Tony chuckled. The helmet disappeared from around his head as he watched Dean, who, along with Castiel, were indeed wearing the super suits he made for them months ago.

“Shut up, Iron Shit.” Dean hissed, finally getting back to his feet, while wiping his mouth.

“Are you alright now?” Castiel asked, with barley hidden amusement in his eyes and Dean just narrowed his own at him.

“Alright, the rest of the team are still on their way.” Steve announced as he turned towards them, after checking with the team. “Let’s get a head start and see what’s happening inside. Dean, are you done throwing up? You owe the Jar twelve dollars now.” he turned to Dean, amusement visible on his face even with the masked helmet on his head, holding out the Swear Jar towards him.

“I will throw up on you.” Dean threatened lowly as he paid, making the others chuckle a little, before they all started to move.

“So, what do we know about this place?” Dean asked seriously, as the sounds of struggle reached them from inside the building. “Why are the AUers targeting it?”

“Because…” A distorted voice answered and it didn’t belong to any one of his companions. The four of them stopped and watched as four masked, black figures walked up to them from inside the building. The one with a shield strapped to their back was carrying a large glass cube, with what looked like a giant, red diamond inside, which they placed in front of them on the floor to reach back for their shield. Obviously, this was what they stole from inside the building. When the four figures stopped in a row in front of them, the leader continued. “They had something we need.”

The four heroes also stood in a row as they faced the black, masked figures unflinchingly.

“Whatever you stole, we are gonna want it back.” Steve stated firmly, as he stared back at them.

“Your confidence is predictable.” The leader said, their voice still distorted from obviously a voice changer in their mask. “You have faced some of the greatest evils known to man, and you have defeated them, but if you think so highly of yourselves that you can defeat any threat that comes your way-“ they paused as the four figures raised their hands together towards their masks, to make them disappear. “-how do you feel about us?”

The four heroes froze with wide eyes, as they saw their own faces staring back at them coldly, with cruelty itched to their faces.

Of all the things they expected, this was not one of them.

“This is sick.” Dean muttered in disgust, staring at his own doppelganger, who apparently was their leader.

“Do you mean looking at your reflection and seeing only weakness? I agree.” Dark Dean countered with a look of disdain directed at Dean.

“You have to be kidding me.” Tony exclaimed, looking at his own face smirking mockingly back at him. “You can’t possibly be me.”

“Sadly, for you, I am the improved Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Oh well, no longer the philanthropist part, though.” Dark Tony just chuckled with a cruel glint in his eyes.

“Well, if you are here, then no longer the ‘genius’ part either.” Tony raised an eyebrow at the other, trying to hide how it shook him to see his own face distorted with an ugly look of cruelty on his face.

“Your Sam killed himself.” Dean announced carefully, trying to see his doppelganger’s reaction to that.

“This is what your world does to people. It makes them soft.” The dark king retorted in an ice-cold voice. “This is a war. People die in war.”

“We have been watching you.” Dark Castiel announced as he stared down Castiel, who was watching the other intently the entire time, unable to believe. “We have been watching all of you. And how you have squandered the potential of two worlds. On our world, we have developed a meritocracy. We have accomplished greatness.”

“You are perverse.” Castiel murmured with a shake of his head.

“No, Castiel, you are the perversion. One of the most powerful beings on the planet, rendered weak by mere feelings and emotions. Stuck between being an angel and a human. A pathetic shell!” disdain was obvious in every word the dark angel was saying.

“It’s better than being a cold, bastard like what you are now.” Castiel snapped firmly, not letting the harsh words, said by his own voice, affect him. 

Steve kept staring at his dark version, who just remained silent the entire time, face devoid of any emotion of any kind. What was even confusing was the fact that his eyes weren’t blue like it was supposed to be. It was bloody red instead.

“What the hell happened to you?” Steve asked, before he could stop himself, because he tried to understand how a version of him could have such a detached, frozen expression like this, but failed.

“Oh, my little captain doesn’t talk.” Dark Tony grinned viciously, as he moved to slap Dark Steve’s ass in an atrocious way, that made the heroes cringe. The dark captain didn’t even flinch, looking like he didn’t even feel it. “Such a shame. He had a pretty voice, but sadly, I guess he screamed his voice away to become this loyal little thing.”

The heroes’ eyes widened in panic at that, unable to believe what he just said.

“You sick bastard! You are controlling his mind?! Made him your pet?! How could you do that?! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Tony shouted in pure rage, body shaking in both anger and disgust.

“The captain was discovered in the ice by us.” Dark Dean was the one to answer coldly. “He was dangerous to us, but would be the perfect soldier to our cause. He had to be broken down, so he was handed down to Stark. He did an excellent job in breaking him down to pieces and building him again to be our most loyal soldier.”

“And the perfect Sex Toy.” Dark Tony added with an ugly smirk, while squeezing the captain’s ass.

The heroes bristled at that.

“This is considered raping! Are you fucking sick?!” Tony shouted in both horror and rage. Steve’s face went a little pale, the words falling over him like cold water. Dean and Castiel’s bodies went tense in repressed anger and disgust.

“Technicalities.” The Dark Tony just shrugged with a lazy smirk. “As long as I have my needs satisfied, I don’t care about what this called. He was Captain America! You know how we always had a small crush on him since our teens. How can I pass up such opportunity?”

“You little-“ Tony was about to step forward, but was held back by both Steve and Dean.

“This is for the good of our nation. We don’t care what he does with him, as long as he is loyal to us and to our cause.” Dark Castiel just shrugged in disinterest.

“Then go back to your fucking nation!” Dean barked angrily.

“This is not your world. Leave.” Castiel growled in repressed rage.

“I don’t answer to the likes of you.” The king scoffed in disdain. “My allegiance is to our Fatherland. And to my husband.” He said the last part while glancing over to Dark Castiel, who gave him a brief glance in return.

“And here I thought you are above such sentiments.” Dean just snorted with a frown.

“Last chance. Go home.” Steve ordered firmly.

“And stay there.” Castiel growled.

“All of you!” Tony added in anger.

Dark Tony just smirked, and turned to the dark captain and gave him a nod.

Suddenly, Dark Steve moved and threw his shield with all his strength at Tony.

Tony was startled at the sudden move, but Steve was immediately in front of him and used his own shield to block the one flying towards them successfully.

With that, all hell broke loose.

The two Tonys immediately had their helmets cover their heads and where in the air charging at each other, while Dark Steve caught his shield back and attacked Steve with all his might.

Dean pulled out one of his guns and pointed it at Dark Castiel.

“And what do you think this will do? Bullets doesn’t hurt me in case you forgot.” The dark angel raised an amused eyebrow at Dean and shared a carless look with his dark husband.

“This one will.” Dean muttered as he shot at him.

The bullet hit its target in Dark Castiel’s shoulder and he exclaimed in both pain and anger, as the wound glowed bright white light, while Dark Dean’s eyes widened as he stared at the wound.

“Are those Angel Killing Bullets?” Castiel accused as he sent an indignant look at Dean. “Why do you have Angel Killing Bullets?”

“Uh, in case another angel or an evil _you_ ever showed up.” Dean answered with a very obvious ‘duh’ in his voice.

Dark Castiel growled in rage as he sprouted his wings and charged towards Dean. Castiel immediately brought out his own and used one of them to hit Dark Castiel so hard, that he went flying into a large statue in front of the building and crashed into it.

***

Tony hit the ground hard, after his doppelganger caught him off guard and managed to shot him in the chest with a repulsor blast.

Meanwhile, Dark Dean was running towards Dark Castiel, who was hunched on the ground after crashing with the statue. Dark Tony landed next to them.

“Get the Prism out of here!” The king ordered firmly and the black Iron man nodded, before flying away. “Are you alright?” he asked as he grabbed Dark Castiel’s arm to help him up.

“I am pissed.” He growled in answer as he straightened up.

“Well, take it out on that.” He ordered as he nodded towards a building under construction, filled with workers, not too far away from them.

Dark Castiel immediately understood what the king wants, then released a large amount of grace and shot it towards the building.

***

Steve was pushed hard against a nearby tree, but he immediately got back to his feet to face his controlled doppelganger, who, unfortunately, was way more vicious than Steve anticipated.

But then the black Iron Man flew by and turned to the black Captain.

“Take the Prism and follow me.” He ordered firmly and the dark captain ignored Steve completely and rushed away.

Before Steve could chase behind him, he saw a powerful blast of bright white light coming from somewhere and hitting a tall, under construction building, then heard the screams of the workers there, as the building started to fall apart.

“Cas! The building!” Steve shouted as he saw the angel a few feet away from him, who came rushing when he saw the grace blast.

Castiel immediately was in the air, grapping Steve, then flew fast towards the falling apart building.

***

Dean rushed to help Tony back to his feet, then they both stood there and stared at the chaos in the construction site.

“It’s gonna fall.” Tony murmured in panic.

“Alright, get us over there, come on!” Dean urged, and Tony immediately gripped his arms and flew at top speed towards the falling construction sight.

When they got over there, they saw Castiel catching a falling large metal beam midair before it hit a group of workers, and started to merge it back to the building by using his grace to heat it up, until it merged to the body of the construction, while Steve was jumping around to help the workers to get to safety.

“I will help Steve with the workers. You help Cas to stabilize the building.” Dean said as Tony dropped him on one of the metal beams. Tony nodded and flew away.

Castiel continued to merge the falling metal beams, while Tony moved around, using his laser to stabilize the shaking and falling apart part of the building, as Steve and Dean worked together to help the workers.

After what felt like forever, the four of them finally regrouped on the ground by the saved workers.

“Site is cleared.” Dean announced, while panting a little.

“And stabilized.” Tony added, sharing a nod with Castiel.

“Nice work.” Steve nodded at them with a smile.

“Let’s not celebrate yet.” Castiel stated grimly with a displeased frown. “We gave those doppelgangers the window they needed to escape.”

“Escape with what? What the hell was that diamond thing do and why do they need it so desperately?” Dean asked in frustrated confusion.

From afar, they saw their team finally arriving. A little bit too late.

“We need to regroup with the team and tell them the news. And Tony, you need to get into the data base of optical company and find out what that thing they stole.” Steve stated firmly. They all nodded at him, then moved to regroup with their team.

The four of them not talking about the fact that they just fought dark versions of themselves. Not yet.


	10. Chapter 10

“The Optical systems company calls it the Prism.”

Tony announced an hour later as the entire team gathered in the Med Bay, to update Erik and Charles on the new events that happened, since the latter was refusing to leave the former’s side, no matter how many times he assured him that he was fine.

“What on earth would they need a sub-light generator for?” Charles asked in confusion from his place on Erik’s bedside. “I mean it is basically a spectral emitter that-“

“-uses quantum entanglement.” Finished Hank, following his thoughts.

“You could also use it to create a stable fusion reaction.” Bruce added helpfully, from where he was leaning against the wall.

“Ok, what does this all mean?” Steve sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. This day was starting to get on his nerves. “And please explain in English. I am not in the right state of mind for science talk at the moment.”

The four geniuses shared a hesitant look.

“Guys, come on, we would like to know what you are talking about.” Dean urged a little impatiently.

“Well, basically, the device they stole can be converted to a neutron bomb.” Tony explained with a slight wince.

“I take it back. I don’t want to know.” Dean sighed in exhaustion as he leaned against Castiel, too tired, physically and emotionally, to remain upright for too long.

“The bottom line is, we need to stop them, before they decide to do anything with what they stole.” Natasha stated, looking impatient and frustrated. Obviously, still mad about the whole thing.

“This might help?” Castiel asked as he pulled something out of his pocket, which turned out to be a bloody bullet.

“Is that an angel killing bullet?” Sam asked with wide eyes, as he immediately recognized the bullet, which was now held in Bruce’s hand. “Dean, I hate to ask this, but I need to ask it. Did you shoot Castiel?”

“Sort of.” Dean just shrugged with an overly careless look on his face. Probably he was too tired to care to explain at the moment.

“Oh, right, we forgot to mention that.” Tony laughed a little nervously, while scratching the back of his head. “The leader, the winged one, the one with the shield and the one in metal suit, are evil Dean, Cas, Steve and me, respectively, of the Bad World.”

The team blinked at them stupidly. Then blinked again as they obviously waited for the punch line that never came.

“Remember when you told me that other world was bad? You might have undersold it.” Erik commented as he gave a side eyed look at Charles, who was still blinking stupidly.

“You should have mentioned that in the beginning.” Natasha practically shouted at them.

“Sorry, a lot of things happening at the same time, that we barely had a moment to think about that.” Steve said apologetically, but seemed to be too distracted despite trying desperately to focus. 

“I find it hard to believe that there are evil counterparts of you.” Thor murmured with wide eyes.

“Tell me about it! I mean I can’t imagine a version of Steve as evil. He is too boy scout type no matter how sassy he gets. It is just weird to even picture.” Bucky stated, looking really confused at that particular point. Wilson and Rhodey just pinched the bridge of their noses, while murmuring something about crazy fucking lives under their breaths. 

Tony flinched at Bucky’s comment, which hit a little too close. Steve just placed a hand on his back to rub it reassuringly.

“What I find more terrifying right now is the thought of evil Castiel. I mean we are all obviously going to die.” Clint commented helpfully, as he stared at the ceiling like it held all the answers.

“Thanks, Clint. If I ever turn evil, I will be sure to start with you. You are too perspective to stay around.” Castiel said dryly with a deadpan look on his face.

“Wait, so the king is their Dean?” Sam murmured with wide eyes, while Dean winced at that. He was still trying to not think about it. “Oh, God, that explains everything that happened with my doppelganger.”

“Your life sucks.” Logan announced without bothering to sugarcoat it, completely ignoring Erik and Charles’ glares for his insensitivity.

“Sorry our shitty life is crapping all over your rainbow, unicorn filled life, Logan.” Dean snarked with a roll of his eyes.

“Ok, if that bullet carries not-so-nice Castiel’s blood on it, we could track it using quantum analysis.” Charles suggested quickly, before Logan and Dean decides to jump on each other.

“Hey, guys, I think I might have a quicker way.” Bruce interrupted, before Tony could answer Charles. They all turned to see him looking through a microscope at the bloody bullet. “These red blood cells are suffused with short wave radiation.”

“Solar radiation?” Tony asked in surprise.

“Yeah, incredibly high amounts. Like nothing I have ever seen.”

“Can you track it?” Steve asked as he looked over at Tony curiously.

“I can try.” He shrugged a little uncertainly.

“Let’s just do it. And fast.”

***

Charles and Erik made their way down to the workshop, the latter’s head was still wrapped tightly in bandages.

“I don’t think you are supposed to get out of the bed yet.” Dean frowned skeptically at the Metal Binder, who was still obviously in pain, but trying to hide it.

“I am not going to just stay in bed, while you all deal with this.” Erik just shrugged, as he took a seat next to Dean on the couch.

Like always, Tony just dragged Dean with him in the workshop to track the solar radiation from the blood. Like he was hating to be alone with his thoughts at the moment. Dean could understand that, so he didn’t object. He kind of needed the company too.

“How are you holding up?” Charles asked softly, trailing his eyes between the two of them.

“You saw it in our minds, didn’t you?” Tony raised an eyebrow at him, not really accusing, just tired.

“Yes, I am sorry. You were thinking about it too loudly, that I didn’t have a choice but to see it.” The telepath apologized quietly. Not that either men were really angry about it. They were aware that Charles couldn’t always block the thoughts, before entering his mind.

“Yeah, well, it saved me from having to tell you the whole thing. I would rather to just forget about what I found out.” Tony muttered as he kept his eyes firmly on his work.

The room went quiet for a few seconds, Charles looking at the both of them hesitantly, while Erik rested his head on the back on the couch with a sigh.

“Did I mention that I look hot like hell while I am an emotionless, evil bastard?” Dean announced suddenly with a slight smirk, successfully breaking the confining silence that fell on them.

Tony let out an involuntarily laugh, before he could help it, Charles grinned at Dean in amusement, while Erik moved his head to raise an unimpressed eyebrow at him.

“Fuck you for making me laugh, while I am miserable.” Tony let out from between his uncontrollable laughter.

“What? I deserve to brag about this! I mean, there is a version of me who is the king of a whole fucking world! With Cas by his side! That guy has everything awesome!”

“Except, I don’t know, a heart?” Erik rolled his eyes, as he tried to hide the smile pulling at his lips.

“Well, I have one. Do you see me ruling the world?” Dean pointed out, his smirk still obnoxiously on his face.

“What frustrates me more is the fact that my doppelganger is not one of them. I have all it takes to be an evil bastard that rules the world too.” Erik scowled in annoyance.

“Oh, you must be really heartbroken about this. You poor thing, you have been neglected from the ‘Evil Bastards Club’.” Charles gave him an unimpressed look.

“You must admit that if my doppelganger was one of them, we would have all died in the rehearsal dinner fight.”

“My God, Erik, whose side are you on?”

“I can’t believe you guys are taking this so openly.” Tony shook his head with a confused chuckle, eyes landing on Dean. “Even you. I thought you will be on full on Self-loathing Mode. Literally.”

“Well, you said it yourself only a few hours ago. Just because a version of us is corrupted in another world, doesn’t mean there is a corrupt part inside us that is ready to make an appearance at some point. This doesn’t defy anything.” Dean quoted Tony’s earlier words to him with a pointed look at the genius, even going as far as mimicking his voice. “I mean do you actually believe there is any part of you that will ever do that sick, twisted things to Steve? I once saw you panic when he cut his hand accidently with a knife while cooking, then decided to hide all the knives for an entire week after that! So, no Tony, there is no way in hell you have any part of that sick bastard in you.”

“I actually came here to tell you the exact same thing, but more eloquently of course.” Charles just smiled at the indignant look Dean gave him at that.

Tony just trailed his eyes between the two of them quietly, before he looked over at Erik. “And you?”

“I just came here to laugh internally at your miserable face.” Erik just shrugged with a smirk, ignoring Dean’s choked off laugh and Charles defeated sigh.

Tony shook his head with a small smile. “I am surrounded by idiots.”

A comfortable silence fell on them for a few minutes. The first silence that Tony enjoyed since they got back from the optical company.

“Do you imagine me as evil?” Charles asked curiously, taking a seat next to Erik. The three men stared at him strangely, like he just sprouted a second head or something. “What?”

“Charles, you are so fucking nice that in sixth grade, when a boy was bullying you and was taking your lunch, you told your cook to stop making you peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, because that boy got a nut allergy!” Tony said dryly, as he raised an eyebrow at the telepath.

Dean and Erik turned to stare at Charles with wide eyes, and he shrunk at their disbelieving looks.

“What? Just because he was bullying me, it didn’t mean I should give him health problems!” Charles defended weakly, looking away from their looks.

“Sometimes, I can’t believe you actually exists.” Erik murmured with a fond smile on his face, as he looked softly at Charles, whose face flushed a little at the praise and smiled back at his husband.

“Oh, God, they are so mushy and soft. My teeth are rotting from this amount of sweetness, please stop.” Dean muttered dryly with a smirk on his face.

“Oh look! A pot is calling the kittle black.” Erik retorted with a shark like smile sent Dean’s way, who immediately shut up with an awkward cough.

Tony was now grinning like an idiot at his close friends, who managed to make him feel much lighter than before.

He has a husband that loves him and a family that cares about him. He might not be ruling the world, but he really do have everything he ever wanted.

***

“Hey, Cas, are you-“ Steve stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, only to chuckle a little. “Here I thought I will find you miserable and hating everything.”

Castiel looked up from the piece of chocolate cake he was eating.

“What? I can’t be eating a cake while I am miserable and hating my life?” Castiel raised an eyebrow at the soldier, a slight smile pulling at his lips.

“No, Cas, I don’t think anyone could be miserable while eating a chocolate cake.” Steve just shook his head with chuckle as he grabbed a fork and joined the angel on the kitchen table to share his cake. “Where did you get this cake anyway? I thought everything was ruined from the rehearsal dinner, and what was not ruined was devoured by Thor.”

“Dean was hiding it in the fridge to eat it later.” Castiel answered with a shrug, as he continued to eat happily.

“Wouldn’t he be upset that his treasure was stolen?” Steve wondered, but never stopped eating anyway.

“He will think it was Thor who ate it. I will bring him a pie after we deal with all this.” The angel answered with a slight smile.

“I see you are holding up well.” The soldier observed curiously, looking the angel over.

“After the whole thing with the Mirror World, I am no longer affected by seeing a version of myself. I might have been taken aback a little from the cruelty and harshness on my doppelganger’s face, but still I half expected this when I saw his wings in our first fight, then Sam’s doppelganger.” Castiel explained seriously, as he glanced up at Steve. “You must be feeling good about yourself. Apparently, even in a world so cruel and dark, your doppelganger was still good, but was violated and forced to be this way.”

“Yeah, this makes me feel peachy. Top of the world.” Steve sighed as he dug into the cake more forcefully. “Anyway, I think Tony is shaken up about that particular detail more than me. I tried to reassure him earlier, but he won’t even look me in the eye. Why the hell would he feel guilty about this? That other Tony is no way even close to being him. He is too far gone. Tony will never be anything like him, then why is he feeling guilty?”

“That’s a high level of self-loathing.” Castiel commented with a snort. “Don’t worry about him. Dean probably is talking some sense to him as we speak. He is taking this better than I expected.”

“You know, when I rethink some of the words our doppelganger said, like ‘The Fatherland’, poison pills, ‘Meritocracy’. Sick experiments. It all sounded familiar to me, until it hit me. They are basically modern Nazis, but without being Germans.”

“You mean their Dean is basically the new Hitler?” Castiel questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Dean will love that. If he managed to kill him, he will brag forever about killing two Hitlers in his life.”

Steve blinked at him for a few seconds, speechless.

“I can’t believe you just said like it was the most normal thing ever.”

“I can’t believe you are still surprised by things like that.”

***

In the abandoned storage somewhere in New York, Dark Tony was working on the Prism they stole when Dark Castiel approached him.

“Will it work?” he asked, announcing his presence as he looked at the genius.

“It will with a few adjustments.” Dark Tony answered without bothering to look up. “And a significant source of power.”

“My husband’s is on his way to handle that as we speak.” The dark angel announced confidently.

“Your husband has a choice to make.” The genius muttered under his breath, venom coloring his voice.

“Me or the nation?” The dark angel clarified with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s right.” Dark Tony slammed the screw driver in his hand on the table, as he turned to the angel. “Because we have two goals, and my worry is if we can’t accomplish them both, he is gonna choose you over a second world flying under our banner.”

“Dean will not abandon our mission.” Dark Castiel stated firmly.

“This happened before. In 1945, Hitler and his men were equally shortsighted.”

“Hitler was driven by passion and childish need. Dean is ten times the man Hitler ever was.”

“Not when he is blinded by his love for you!” Dark Tony snapped in frustration.

Dark Castiel gave him a long, silent look, before looking away.

“If it comes to Dean choosing between me and the nation, I will make sure he chooses the Fatherland.” He said, as he eyed the genius coldly.

“How?”

“If it comes to it-“ he started in an cold, stern voice. “-by taking the choice out of his hands.” 


	11. Chapter 11

“This is frustrating.”

Hank muttered as he and Bruce joined up with Tony and Dean to help tracking dark Castiel, but it was proving to be more difficult than they thought.

“Dark Castiel’s blood is filled with solar radiation. More than it should be, but if we could try to get that to act as a kind of beacon.” Bruce murmured as he stared at the screen Tony was working on, pointing out to him what he means.

“Are you going to help?” Erik asked Dean, who just sat next to him on the couch, watching the geniuses around the room as they worked, while eating the food Steve and Castiel, mostly Steve thankfully, made earlier.

“I am the new Hitler in another world, man. I am never helping your normal asses ever again.” Dean grinned around a mouthful of food, managing to make every eye in the room turn to him with raised eyebrows. He had been like this since Steve and Castiel told them their theories of Dark Dean trying to walk in Hitler’s footsteps.

“Yes, I could see the greatness and viciousness leaking out of you.” Erik said dryly with a straight face.

“You are just jealous because you are Jewish and the thought of Hitler makes you queasy.” Dean rolled his eyes as he took another mouthful of food.

“Is he drunk?” Charles asked the room in general as he couldn’t help but eye Dean carefully. “Did he get spontaneously drunk or something? That is not normal.”

“Aha!” Tony exclaimed in victory suddenly, interrupting Dean’s retort. They all turned to him expectantly. “Whatever is going on with Dark Castiel’s blood it’s intensifying.”

“Worse for him, better for us.” Hank said excitedly.

“Better for us for tracking him at least.” Bruce muttered as he watched Tony working fast. “We have his location any minute now.”

***

Sam was staring off in the distance as he stood in front one of the large windows in the penthouse. Well, one of the few not broken ones anyway.

Even with how deep in his head he was, he still felt Natasha approaching him and burrowing to his side, while wrapping her arms around his waist. He gave her a faint smile as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

The height difference between them will always catch him off guard. Twelve inches difference was a big number. But it never bothered either of them. They always fitted together perfectly, with her head finding its usual spot on his chest as they snuggled close together like this. Like puzzle pieces that waited too long for each other.

“What are you thinking about?” she murmured, while staring through the window too at the loud, big city in front of them.

“Today was supposed to be our wedding.” He whispered, unable to keep the disappointment and sadness off his voice.

It’s been eighteen hours since the attack in the Rehearsal Dinner. Hours that were supposed to be spent in the wedding. They could have been getting ready to be officially married by that time, if their lives weren’t such a bitch to them.

“I know.” Natasha sighed tiredly, as she buried her face in his chest. “I am sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? It is not like my life is normal. If it wasn’t Nazis 2.0, it might have been a demon attack or something.” He chuckled bitterly as he shook his head. “Our lives just suck like that.”

“We will get through this. We will show them whose wedding they just ruined.” She said firmly, anger was showing on her face.

“How do you know?” he murmured quietly with a sigh.

“Because you are not dealing with this alone.” Answered a voice from behind them and they turned to see Steve approaching them with a soft smile and tired eyes. “We are getting close on a location.” Then he sighed and looked away. “Look, guys, I am sorry. This is not how this week was supposed to go.”

“We can’t think about that right now.” Natasha muttered quietly with a sad twist to her lips.

“You should. We fight to protect the people we love. So, you guys recognize what you have. Recognize it and cherish it. Let it make you stronger, because if you do that, you will always find your way back to one another.”

“Yeah, I have been living with Dean and Cas, then you and Tony long enough to believe in that.” Sam smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you, Steve.”

“Yeah.” The Captain murmured with a soft smile.

“Guys!” Tony voice sounded loudly in the room as he rushed towards them. “We got them! They are at a shipping depot outside the city.”

“Alright, we will split into teams.” Steve immediately went into Captain America mode as he turned to Sam and Natasha. “We can’t leave the Tower unattended. They might be waiting for us to do that. So, Team A that will include me, Tony, Dean, Castiel, Natasha, Bucky and Clint, will go to the shipping depot. The rest of you, Team B, will hold down the fort here.”

“I am coming too.” Charles announced as he approached them, making the four of them turn to him with wide eyes.

“Charles! Are you crazy? You-”

“Charles, I can’t-“

“I am not an invalid anymore.” Charles interrupted them with a raised eyebrow. “Even when I was, you let me come with you to space, where I saved your asses, in case you don’t remember. Just let me help. Erik is out of commission because of his injury, so let me help. Please.”

Tony and Steve exchanged a hesitant look.

“You do realize that Erik will have our heads for this, right?” Steve stated with a raised eyebrow.

“I am quite aware of that fact.”

“Fine. You are on Team A, but you will stay away from the actual fight.”

“Now, go suit up in the awesome suit I made you.” Tony sighed in defeat as he waved him off.

“Thank you.” Charles smiled at them gratefully, before running out of the room. Or more like fast walking, since he couldn’t quite run properly yet.

God, Steve was hoping he didn’t just make a mistake.

“Spread the orders.” Steve said as he turned to Sam and Natasha, who nodded before rushing out of the room.

He turned back to Tony, who immediately pulled him down for a quick kiss.

“Be careful out there.” He murmured against his lips.

“You too.” Steve whispered back as he pressed one last kiss, before stepping back completely.

***

Ten minutes later, Team A landed on the roof of the shipping depot outside the city.

Tony carrying Steve, Charles and Natasha, while Castiel carried Dean, Bucky and Clint easily like he was carrying three shopping bags instead of three, fully grown men. They forgo using the Quinjet to not bring attention to themselves.

After waiting for the few minutes that took both Dean and Bucky to stop throwing up this time, they began to move.

“Where did Cas go?” Dean asked, after he straightened up and looked around for his husband.

“He is sweeping the perimeter.” Steve answered as he looked around.

“It’s done.” Castiel announced as he landed lightly next to them. “It’s wall to wall New Nazis in there.”

“Alright, Clint, Bucky and Natasha you will take up breach positions on the northeast corner.” Steve ordered, as he looked at the mentioned three.

“Aye Aye, Captain.” Bucky saluted with a grin, before he sprinted with the other two to their positions.

“I think they converted the sub-light generator, the prism they had stolen, into some kind of super weapon.” Tony said grimly as the remaining five made their way on the roof.

“Honestly? Their Castiel is the biggest threat.” Dean muttered with a displeased frown.

“Agreed. We need to take him out first.” Steve nodded in agreement with a carefully set face.

“Dean.” Castiel murmured, as he stopped Dean with a gentle hand on his wrist.

Dean stopped and turned to him curiously, the other three exchanged a look before taking a few steps away to give them a moment.

“Cas, what is it?” Dean asked in concern as he stepped closer to his husband.

“I am just worried. I don’t know what we will face in there.” The angel just sighed and looked away.

“That’s not the first time we go blind into something, babe.” Dean smiled reassuringly at him, as he leaned in a little to catch his eyes again. “Sure, we are facing our overly evil selves, but we have been in crazier situations. It will be fine.”

“Just be careful, alright?” Castiel whispered as he met Dean’s eyes with his concerned ones.

“Always, Cas.” The hunter grinned as he pressed a chaste kiss to the angel’s lips, before stepping away to rejoin the others.

“How did you convince Erik to let you come with us?” Tony asked curiously as he turned to Charles.

“Oh, I just told him I am coming with you on a mission from the door of the room, then rushed away before he had a chance to respond or even move.” Charles answered with a sheepish smile. “He is probably pissed now.”

“Oh, God, Charles,” Steve and the other three groaned in unison. “Erik is going to kill me! I can never go back to the Tower now.”

“None of us can.” Dean winced as he imagined Erik’s current face. “He is going to murder us all.”

“Sorry?”

***

Charlie, Raven and Sam were in the computer lab, Tony build specifically for Charlie months ago, the former watching intently the dozen screens in front of her, which showed the shipping depot and several places in the Tower.

“Are you worried?” Raven murmured as she turned to her lover, who was quiet for a long time now.

“Yeah.” She answered with a sigh, her eyes trained on the screens. “I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling that I can’t shake.”

“It’s going to be fine.” Sam tried to reassure them both, even though he himself was feeling more tense and worried than usual. “We dealt with worst situations. Don’t worry.”

Those Nazis were planning something. It wasn’t a super weapon. He was positive it was something worse, but he wasn’t sure what it was. 

“Mustard!” Thor’s voice thundered in the room suddenly, making the three of them jump as they turned to the Demigod, who had a sandwich in his hand and a displeased look on his face as he entered the room. “You people have breaches to other worlds, but no mustard?”

Sam turned a blank look to the two women, who were giving Thor raised eyebrows.

“See? Even Thor is not worried. It’s going to be fine.”

***

Steve and Dean made their way carefully through the corridors of the building, following the sounds of the soldiers.

When they got closer to a huge space, filled with twelve soldiers moving huge boxes around, Steve turned to Dean and gave him a signal, before they both charged into the room.

“Hey!” one soldier shouted at them, as he and the other eleven soldiers turned to them with their rifles pointed at them.

Before Dean could even move, Steve threw his shield, knocking down almost half of them on the rebound, and then brought the remaining ones to the ground with hits that even Dean didn’t have time to see it.

Dean eyed the soldiers, unconscious on the floor and raised an eyebrow at the captain.

“Couldn’t have left one for me?” the hunter asked in frustration as he made his way towards him.

“I am saving Evil you for you.” Steve pointed out with a grin, as he caught his shield when it rebounded back to him.

“There is no sign of the prism.” Natasha announced as she, Clint and Bucky appeared from behind them from another corridor.

“Well, it is got to be around here somewhere.” Steve muttered as he looked around the huge space surrounding them, eyeing the hundreds of wood boxes that filled the space.

“We got incoming.” Clint announced as he grabbed his bow, body tense.

“Stay where you are!” a soldier ordered while pointing a rifle at them, then suddenly, hundreds of soldiers filled the room, surrounding them completely while all pointing their weapons at them.

From somewhere, a black shield flew towards them, almost beheading them, if not for their quick reflexes as they immediately ducked down and away.

Steve watched the black shield rebound and go straight back to its owner, who caught it easily.

“Found my target.” Steve growled, as he sprinted towards his evil doppelganger.

Natasha, Bucky and Dean immediately pulled out their guns, Clint readied his bow, and started shooting at the soldiers, who immediately shot back at them. Meanwhile, Castiel and Tony crashed into the room, just as their respective dark doppelgangers made their appearance.

The room went into chaos as the heroes and the black army engaged in a heated fight.

“I see their Iron Man, their Captain America and their Guardian Angel.” Natasha observed as she shot three soldiers down, then moved to pull out her knife from her boot to attack a soldier behind her.

Beside her, Steve and his doppelganger were in a heated fight that neither of them was planning to back down from.

“Yeah, I see them. They are kinda hard to miss.” Dean snarked as he brought down a group of soldiers and turned to the group that were charging towards him, all while eyeing his husband, who was flying around the high roof, chasing his doppelganger.

“Where is their Righteous Man?” Clint asked a very good question, but they had no answer.

Dark Dean was not in the fight.

***

Outside the Avengers Tower, a black, masked figure, carrying a bow and a sack of arrows on their back, made their way confidently to the huge building.


	12. Chapter 12

Bruce trudged inside the computer room with a frown and a jar of Mustard in his hand.

“It was in the fridge.” He announced in frustration, the frown deepening on his face as he handed Thor the jar. “Did you check the fridge?”

“Oh, thank you, my love. You are a sweetheart.” Thor grinned at him affectionately, that managed to crack Bruce’s frown, unable to stay mad at his lover for long, much to the amusement of the other occupants of the room.

“Whipped.” Raven coughed with a grin, while Charlie and Sam snickered at Bruce’s reddening face and Thor’s grin.

Their amusement was short lived, because in the next second, an enraged Erik crashed into the room, looking to be in the middle of putting on the super suit Tony made him, and stared at them with wild eyes, that made even Thor take a few steps back cautiously.

“Where did they go? Where the hell did Charles go?” Erik practically yelled at them, rage and panic mixed in his voice.

“I am guessing Charles didn’t tell him he is going with Team A?” Sam asked tentatively, not wanting to say the wrong thing, only to be murdered by a nail or something more humiliating.

“Oh, he did tell me alright. Then fled the room before I even managed to get a word out!” Erik yelled, completely ignoring the fact that he was still healing from a violent concussion.

They all winced at that, but they couldn’t help but admire Charles’ move. The best way to avoid Erik’s reaction is to take him by surprise, then flee the room. Of course, that means they were the ones who had to deal with Erik’s violent reaction to his husband going on a dangerous mission without him.

“Tell me where did they go. I need to get to them.” He demanded again, as he finished with the last buckles of his suit.

“What? Are you crazy? You are injured, Erik. You are not going anywhere.” Raven stared at her brother-in-law indignantly.

“I don’t care! I need to go to him!”

“Erik, you can’t fight like this.” Bruce tried to reason with him as calmly as possible, like he was dealing with an angry bear. “He is not alone. You trust him with every single person on that team, well, probably not Clint, but still, they will all look out for him and he is not exactly fragile or an invalid anymore. He even saved your life many times now.”

“Charles can’t even run properly yet! Standing for too long makes him pant like he just ran a mile! Not to mention the fact that he doesn’t fight and refuse to carry any kind of weapon. He shouldn’t be there without me!” Erik was seriously getting more stressed and frustrated, that pain was itched on his face from the obvious headache he was getting.

“Okay, calm down. We will check on them.” Sam tried to reassure the stressed mutant and turned to Charlie. “Any word from the team?”

“No, the moment they entered the shipping depot, they became radio silent.” Charlie reported grimly, as she checked again for any sign of the team.

“Would a sandwich calm you down, my friend?” Thor asked Erik carefully, while holding out the jar of mustard. “I got mustard!”

They had to physically stop Erik from throwing a computer screen at Thor’s face.

***

Sam Wilson was walking down the corridor, a deep, distracted frown on his face that he had from the moment Bucky had left the tower with Team A.

He had a bad feeling about that mission that he couldn’t shake, and his lover completely brushed it off when he mentioned it. Claiming that he won’t be alone there, so it would be fine.

That didn’t help easing Sam in the slightest, but he kept his mouth shut.

In his distraction he didn’t notice the black figure standing in the middle of the corridor, until he was right in front of them.

He stopped dead as he stared at the masked, black figure, standing in front of him confidently like he owns the building.

“Oh, God.” Sam whispered with wide eyes, as he stared at what could only be Dark Dean himself.

“Guess again.” the distorted voice retorted, as he stepped towards him.

Sam knew he had no chance in defeating that man on his own, so he did the only thing he could.

He turned and sprinted down the corridor. The dark king following him with slow, sure steps, like a predator.

Wilson ran as fast as he could until he reached the alarm, and pressed the big button hard, happy to hear the alarm voice sounding through the tower.

The moment he looked up; he saw the black king in front of him.

Before he tried to move, his face was slammed hard against the wall.

Then everything went black for him.

***

Meanwhile, in the shipping depot, the fight was still going on strong.

Castiel and Steve, back to back, fighting the seemingly endless black army, while at the same time, fending off their evil counterparts.

Natasha was moving around lightly, bringing down every soldier that came her way. When a soldier tried to sneak behind to stab her in the back, he was shot down by Bucky, who never stopped shooting around with his gun, saving himself and the rest of his team.

Around the room, Tony and his evil doppelganger were shooting at each other viciously without either of them backing down, completely unaware of the damage happening around them from their violent fight. 

Clint ran out of arrows at some point and had to hand fight the soldiers for the rest of the fight, Dean having his back as he kept shooting his guns at the soldiers before they were able to shoot back.

Charles was nowhere to be seen, and that both worried and comforted them.

While Dean shot down three soldiers, and stabbed two that managed to get close to him with his knife, he turned around only to find himself face to face with evil Castiel, who immediately punched him hard in the chest. And sent him flying into huge wooden crates that were on fire.

***

After the alarm sounded in the computer room, they all stared frozen at the screen that showed a black, masked king walking in the corridors of their home, unable to believe that he managed to get pass their security percussions.

“How the hell did he get inside the tower unnoticed?!” Charlie shouted the question they were all thinking.

Immediately, Erik let go of his anger and straightened up sternly.

“Raven, take your girlfriend and hide.” He ordered in a firm voice that showed no negotiation that all Raven could do was to nod at him, taking Charlie’s hand and rush out of the room. “Winchester, go suit up. Banner, don’t you dare to Hulk out no matter what happens. Thor, follow me.”

With that, he turned and left the room. Completely taking charge, while effectively ignoring his still bandaged head.

***

Dean felt pain shooting sharply from his chest and throughout his entire body, as he tried to gather in his surroundings again.

He opened his eyes and watched helplessly as his team still fought with all they had. Saw Tony hitting a column hard enough it broke down, making him hit the ground. Dark Steve engaging with both Steve and Castiel at the same time, Clint and Bucky fighting with black soldiers.

No sign of Dark Dean.

In the middle of the chaos surrounding him, his eyes landed on Natasha, who was fighting Dark Castiel of all people and obviously losing. The dark angel slammed her against a column hard, a hand wrapped around her throat and started to choke the life out of her, not fazed by her struggling.

He moved to the side, spit out blood from his mouth, before pulling out a special gun from his belt, then moved to his knees and shot the angel killing bullet at the dark angel.

But Dark Castiel immediately shot out a hand and caught the bullet midair, before it even touched him.

The dark angel turned slowly towards Dean, throwing Natasha to the side. He threw the bullet to the floor and raised a hand towards Dean.

“Burn.” He growled in a distorted voice from behind his mask.

Before Dean could move, or understand what’s happening, his Castiel was suddenly there, standing in front of Dean and shooting his grace at his dark self, sending him flying away to hit a wall.

***

Dark Dean made his way towards the communal room in the penthouse and stopped in its middle to look around.

It was too easy. Surely, they were aware of his presence by now.

They will attack. He was sure of it.

The moment he thought that, a dozen knives from the kitchen floated in the air and was thrown at him all at once.

He moved quickly, flipping away gracefully, managing to dodge every single knife. Then every metallic thing in the room floated as well, as Erik appeared from the corner of the room with an angry, determined look on his face.

“It’s you.” The king observed calmly, removing the mask from around his head, as he looked Erik over. “I forgot you even existed.”

“I gathered that from your first attack.” Erik retorted as he stepped towards him, his powers still making all the metal in the roam float around him. “Attacking us with metallic bullets and weapons was a big give away you had forgotten about a certain mutant.”

“Honest mistake.” Dark Dean just shrugged, as he trained his eyes at the mutant. “I killed you years ago in my world. You were a pain in my ass and had to get rid of you. It was too long ago, that I completely forgot that you still exist in other worlds. I will be more than happy to kill you in this world too.”

Erik bristled at that and the metal started to vibrate with his increasing anger. “Oh, I won’t be as easy to kill, I can assure you.”

“I doubt that.” Dark Dean scoffed with disdain. “You are softer, weaker in this world. Like all your hero friends.”

Erik growled as he threw all the metal around him at the king, who dodged and flipped easily away from everything thrown at him and shooting them with his explosive arrows, no matter how relentless Erik was with his attacks, the king managed to dodge every single one of them, without grazing him.

In the middle of his increasing frustration, Erik realized too late that the dark king got dangerously close to him. In the next second after his discovery, he found himself kicked in the chest to fall on the floor, with Dark Dean standing over him, with an arrow pointed at him.

Maybe he wasn’t in a shape to fight after all.

“Just as easy as in my world.” Dark Dean stated with a cold as ice look.

“You are forgetting something.” Erik grinned suddenly, before sending the microwave from the kitchen to hit the man above him in the face hard enough, that he stumbled back. “I am not alone.”

Dark Dean gathered his surroundings fast and looked around him, only to see Sam, Rhodey, Thor, Logan, Bruce and Hank all surrounding him, ready to attack.

“Didn’t think this through, did you?” Logan smirked mockingly, as he let out his claws. Sam and Bruce pointed their guns at the king, while Rhodey, Thor and Hank stepped forward, ready to attack. “Just you, against all of us.”

“I don’t need to think to kill you.” Dark Dean just shrugged, as he stared at all of them coolly. “Come on, anyone here wants to be a hero?”

***

Steve was too engrossed in fighting off four soldiers and his doppelganger, that he didn’t notice the Dark Iron Man, who appeared from seemingly nowhere, shooting him in the chest with a hard repulsor beam, that sent him flying across the room.

Only to be caught by his husband midair, before he managed to hit a wall or one of the many columns in the large space.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He let out from between his pained groans, as he felt the pain in his chest.

“You alright?” came Tony’s concerned voice from behind his helmet, seeming to be reluctant from putting him down.

“I am fine. Don’t worry. Just let me down before that bastard you decide to shoot us in midair.”

***

Dark Dean was relentless. He was a monster trapped inside a human body.

He was moving ten times faster than every single one in the room, managing to dodge their attacks, while he landed his own vicious attacks on them.

He destroyed the arc reactor powering Rhodey’s suit, rendering it useless and managing to shoot an exploding arrow at his helmet, that was hard enough to knock him out cold.

While dodging Erik’s continuous flying attacks, he managed to knock out Hank easily, then shooting an arrow at Erik, who stopped it midair, but still exploded in his face hard enough it sent him flying to a wall.

He bested Thor in the fight, avoiding all his relentless attacks with his hammer, while avoiding Sam’s bullets and knocking out Logan.

Then Thor found himself thrown hard across the room to hit Bruce hard, sending both of them to the floor, unconscious. 

Before Sam could comprehend what just happened, he found himself face to face with the dark doppelganger of his brother.

“What are you?” Sam whispered with wide eyes, not believing that a single man managed to defeat both the Avengers and the X-Men.

“I am the king.” He answered firmly, before hitting Sam in the head with his bow, making him crash to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Soon, he was the only one standing in the room, observing the bodies of the heroes surrounding him on the floor.

***

Finally, after what felt like forever, they brought down the last soldier of the black army that was attacking them.

Team A stood surrounded by the fallen bodies, watching the only three remaining figures, staring at them silently.

Soon, they heard heavy footsteps approaching them from somewhere, accompanied by the protesting yells of a familiar voice.

“What the hell is that?” Dean and Bucky exclaimed as they saw an ugly looking robot, dragging a struggling Charles by the arm, who had a weird looking glowing collar around his neck.

“Holy shit, they got their own Ultron!” Tony announced in pure horror as he saw the familiar robot, squeezing Charles arm harshly, ignoring his pained cries.

“Look what I found trying to hack into our systems.” Ultron said viciously, as he shook Charles harshly.

“This is just keeps getting worse.” Steve murmured with wide, horrified eyes at the turn of events.

Dark Tony landed next to Ultron, taking Charles harshly from the robot.

“Ultron, bring them down.” He ordered firmly, tightening his grip on the telepath when he tried to struggle.

“As you wish, Master.” Ultron said in delight, then shoot a strong beam of energy from his chest, that hit the startled Castiel hard enough it threw him back to hit the floor.

“Cas!” Dean screamed in panic, but before he could even move towards his husband, Ultron moved with a speed so high, that he wasn’t seen, knocking them all of their feet and Dean found himself flying before hitting the floor hard.

He raised his head painfully, only to see his friends sprawled on the floor unconscious, while Dark Castiel was approaching him.

“I hate to do that to that handsome face, but-“ Dark Castiel mocked, before kicking him hard in the face, making him lose consciousness immediately.

***

Steve flinched awake, only to find himself and his friends chained to a large crate, with the glowing collars around their necks.

“Is everyone alright?” He asked in a groan as he felt his body protesting in pain. He felt weak. Drained. Unable to hold himself upright.

The collar was making him weak. All of them apparently. 

“We are gonna have to work on your definition of alright, Steve.” Came Natasha’s bitter replay, while Tony just grunted in pain, who Steve noticed, had lost his suit.

“Cas, you good?” Dean asked in concern, trying to look at his husband.

“Yes, I am as fine as I could be.” Castiel muttered with bitterness, as they all struggled to their feet.

“Where is Charles?” Clint asked with a frown as they all looked around for the telepath.

They heard slow clapping from behind them. They turned to see Dark Tony clapping slowly with a grin as he approached them, with Dark Steve and Castiel trailing behind them, the latter wearing a large smirk and the former dragging Charles harshly.

“Well, here we are.” Dark Tony said in a joyful voice as they came in front of them. “This is so fun for me. Not so much for you.” He then turned to Charles, who was glaring up at him from his place in Dark Steve’s harsh arms. “Thank you, by the way, for bringing Xavier. I really missed looking at that stubborn, pretty face.” Dark Tony grinned, as he gripped Charles’ face in his hand to make him meet his eyes.

“Get your hands off of him, you sick bastard!” Tony yelled, as they all struggled against their chains to reach the telepath.

“Let go of me.” Charles growled warningly, as he glared hard at the man.

“You know, with a click of my fingers, I can make Ultron thrust his hand into your spine and crush the chip that makes you walk around annoyingly right now.” Dark Tony whispered coldly, making the team tense up in panic, while Charles just stared at him unflinchingly. “But it won’t be fun to play with a paralyzed heap. You can’t do much either way anyway as I kill your friends.”

With a nod to the dark captain, Charles was shoved harshly towards his friends, who immediately moved to catch him with their bodies before he hit the floor.

“Enough, Stark.” Came Dark Castiel’s strong voice.

“You might want to listen to him.” Natasha smirked at Dark Tony. “We know if you wanted to kill us, you wouldn’t have put these dog collars on us first.”

“I guess now I know what it feels to hate myself.” Castiel muttered, as he stared at his dark self.

“Welcome to my world.” Tony growled, grimacing in disgust at his grinning doppelganger.

“Well done.” Came Dark Dean’s voice as he entered the room, managing to make all their focus on him as he approached.

“It wasn’t a problem.” Dark Castiel turned to him with a smug smile, that soon turned to a pained grimace as his legs suddenly gave out from under him and hit the floor, breathing heavily, while clutching his chest in pain.

Dark Dean immediately kneeled down in front of him, with a strange look of concern that looked out of place on his cold face. Dark Tony eyed the dark angel carefully, but didn’t get any closer.

Steve and Castiel exchanged a look, while the others kept staring at the scene in confusion.

“The pain.” Dark Castiel let out from between his pained pants. “I don’t know how much longer I can bare it.”

“It’s alright. It’s all going to be alright now.” Dark Dean said with an unsettling smile on his face. “You are going to be fine, because we found him. We found him, and now we have him.”

With that they both looked up to stare directly at Castiel, who frowned at their look, while the others got nervous as they unconsciously moved closer to the angel to shelter him from their looks.

“Very soon, this nightmare will be over,” Dark Dean whispered, as he turned again to the dark angel. “And I will take you home. So, stand tall.”

Dark Castiel took a deep breath, before nodding, as he got back to his feet slowly with the king’s steady hand on his arm.

“The Tower is secured.” Dark Dean reported, as he nodded towards Dark Tony.

“The Tower?!” Tony exclaimed in horror. Their eyes widened in panic. “You attacked the Tower?!”

“You son of a bitch!” Dean yelled as he struggled against his chains violently. “If you hurt our friends I-“

“I did hurt your friends.” Dark Dean interrupted matter of factly, like it was the most normal thing to do, as he stepped towards them with an emotionless face. “I really enjoyed hurting your friends.”

Dean bristled in pure rage, but was held back by Castiel and Bucky pulling at his shirt from behind to stop him from launching on his doppelganger.

“Are they alive?” Steve asked steadily, as he stared unflinchingly at the king.

“Yes, they are. For now.” Dark Dean answered as he turned to the captain, a look of disdain crossing his face. “We need your Castiel’s cooperation. Well, we don’t need it. It would be preferable.” He side eyed the angel while Dark Castiel’s eyes were zeroing on Castiel, almost greedily. “But for the time being, you are more valuable as leverage.”

“What do you need Castiel for?” Natasha asked in confusion, while Dean tried desperately to cover the angel’s body behind his own.

“To save my life.” Dark Castiel answered bluntly as he trailed his eyes towards Natasha, before turning back to stare at Castiel. “That’s your little mission statement, isn’t it? Help people, save lives. Well, now is your chance to do it without screwing anything up.”

“The General is dying.” Dark Tony announced bluntly as well, looking bored.

The heroes froze for a second as they eyed the dark angel carefully.

“Your blood.” Tony murmured with a frown. “You’ve been exposed to too much solar radiation.”

“Yes. Like Icarus, I flew too close to the sun.” Dark Castiel confirmed with a bitter smile. “I am working with a stolen Archangel’s grace. Mine was ripped from me long ago, when they kicked me out of heaven. I had to survive on stolen grace, until I stumbled on Raphael and ripped his grace from him.”

“We are not made for Archangel’s grace.” Castiel murmured with a frown. “It took a toll on your body. It absorbed all kind of energy from around you. Now, the solar radiation is killing your body and you can’t rip the grace out or leave the vessel. All those options will kill you. And if you leave yourself like that, you will explode like a supernova, maybe destroying a country in the process.”

“Precisely.” The dark angel’s lips pulled into a tight line, as Castiel bluntly outed his situation.

“But we can save him. We are going to save him.” Dark Dean stated confidently, without an ounce of doubt in his voice. “All he needs is a new heart. And, luckily, in this world, we found the perfect donor.” He landed his eyes on Castiel, who met his eyes unflinchingly.

“You stay the hell away from him!” Dean yelled in pure rage, as he and Bucky stepped in front of Castiel protectively.

“You are not taking anything from him.” Steve growled, moving closer to the protective shell surrounding the angel.

“Such loyalty.” Dark Castiel scoffed at the scene. “How sweet.”

“That’s why you stole the prism?” Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.

“So, you could stabilize both angels enough to cut into them without your angel exploding to bits and killing us all?” Tony completed Charles’ line of thought.

“Eloquent. And observant.” Dark Tony mocked with a smirk.

“I am going to kill you.” Dean growled as he stepped closer to his dark self. “I will not stop until I see you dead in front of me!”

“No, you won’t do it. You are weak.” Dark Dean shrugged with a disdainful look on his face. “And all of you choose the high road. You are heroes.” He said the last part like it was a curse. He then turned to Dark Tony and gave him a nod, before leaving the room.

“Ultron.” Dark Tony’s voice hollered, as he turned to the robot. “You know what to do.”

“Yes, master.” The smart robot replied obediently, before turning towards the chained heroes, then released a strong burst of energy from his chest towards them.

***

“Man, I thought we were gonne die.”

Charlie whispered, as she and Raven moved in a corridor carefully. “If I had a dime for every time I thought that, I would be so fucking rich right now.”

“It was Dean, but it wasn’t Dean.” Raven murmured, looking distracted.

“It was Dean in the high castle.”

“I just mean, there is so much out there for us to be afraid of.” Raven stopped moving as she turned to Charlie looking serious. “Multiple earths, aliens, demons, evil doppelgangers. I mean what else could be coming?”

“What’s your point? Are you deliberately trying to freak me out?” Charlie whispered frantically.

“No, Charlie, what I am trying to say is-“ she gripped Charlie’s shoulders tightly as she looked at her straight in the eyes. Lately, she tended to stay in her blue form more often than not, feeling confident to be in her natural form around her family. “-I love you. I really, really do. Having you by my side, is what makes me able to sleep at night while I think about all this.”

Charlie stared at her with wide eyes, before a small smile crossed her lips.

“Strange timing to say those words for the first time.” Charlie murmured softly. “I lov-“

“Shh, shut up.”

“What? I was just tryi-“

“No, shut up.” Raven whispered frantically, as she seemed to be listening for something.

She gripped Charlie’s arm tightly and they moved slowly down the corridor.

Only to flinch back fast when they caught a glimpse of a black figure.

“We are not alone.” Raven whispered nervously, as they both continued down the corridor, until they reached the entrance of the dungeon Tony build.

Only to see black soldiers carrying the bodies of their friends and family and throwing them inside the glass cells.

Raven and Charlie exchanged a wide-eyed look.

“Stalag Avengers Tower.” Charlie murmured frantically, as they both didn’t know what to do.

***

Team A heard dogs barking and multiple voices shouting around them, as they woke up from the hard ground they were laying on.

They moved carefully, noticing that they were surrounded by people dressed like prisoners with glowing collars around their necks as well.

“Cas!” Dean choked out, as he noticed that the angel was absent. “Where’s Cas? They are going to kill him!”

“Oh, God, they took Steve too!” Tony exclaimed in panic, when he realized his husband was messing as well.

“It’s okay! Both of you calm down! We are going to get them back.” Natasha tried to reassure them as they got back to their feet. Their wrests were still chained and the glowing collars still around their necks.

“We need to figure out where we are first.” Clint muttered as he looked around.

“Yeah, about that.” Bucky murmured with widening eyes. “Guys, I am pretty sure we are in a Concentration Camp!”

They were in a large yard, surrounded by large wire walls that lined with hundreds of black soldiers with loaded guns. Not to mention the prisoners around them.

“I don’t think this is our world.” Charles said with wide eyes as he gazed at their surroundings.

They stared up at the strange looking dark sky and then at the military base surrounding the camp.

“We are in their world.” Tony breathed out the words, they were all afraid to say out loud.

They were no longer in their world.

They were in their doppelgangers’ messed up world.


	13. Chapter 13

Steve was thrown inside one of the glass cells in the Tower harshly, body heavy and slow, unable to even stand properly.

He turned around to stare at Dark Dean’s harsh face from behind the glass, then trailed his eyes around the rest of the cells to find his family and friends unconscious inside all of them.

“Where did you take my team?” Steve demanded firmly, as he trained his eyes on the king.

“We took your Castiel, then sent the rest to a concentration camp in my world.” Dark Dean answered evenly as he eyed the captain curiously.

“Why didn’t you take me with them? Why bringing me back to the Tower? You should have taken me with them!” Steve yelled as he slammed his fist against the glass in frustration. The glass didn’t even crack. Dammit, Tony did a really good job building these cells. Not to mention the collar around his neck, making him weak.

“You are in no place to make demands, Captain.” Dark Dean stated harshly as he frowned in disdain. “Remember, in my world you are just a glorified sex toy. I have no ounce of respect to you.”

“Why didn’t you let me be with them?” Steve demanded again, ignoring the man’s words as he focused on his rapidly beating heart. Only his heart, since his fucking ring was too still. Obviously, unable to bring him Tony’s heartbeat from across worlds.

“Our Stark wants a new soldier.” Dark Dean smirked cruelly, as he eyed Steve up and down. “He has a goal. To enslave every Captain America we encounter as we conquer the multi-verse. He wants to make an army of you, but mostly an orgy, apparently. That’s his only request, so I will indulge his kinky, but intriguing plans anyway.”

Steve’s heart sank and felt a cold shiver ran through his body, but tried hard to not let any of that show on his face. “He won’t be able to break me.”

“Certainly you will be a lot harder than our Steve Rogers. That one was already half broken when he saw the world I build. That, thankfully, traumatized him to the point that the process was easy enough. But you-“ Dark Dean took a step closer to the glass cell as he stared hard at Steve. “-You are going to need more work. Cracking open your best friend and take his heart will be a nice start. Killing all your family and friends will be adding salt to your new wound. Then, with the death of your Stark, you will be merely a shell of the man you are now.” A cruel, ugly smirk took place on his face. “Then soon enough, you will be a new sex toy to our resident genius.”

With that, he turned around and marched out of the room, leaving Steve on a verge of a panic attack, unable to take a full breath in. Helpless to do anything, but wait for a miracle.

***

Back in the other world, things seemed to be going to hell.

The six of them trailed their eyes around the miserable place they found themselves in. the huge military camp, the hundreds of armed soldiers, a sea of indistinct shouts that seemed to be coming from everywhere around them, the loud cries of the miserable looking prisoners surrounding them, eyes squinted from the direct light that kept hitting their faces.

“Eyes front!” a soldier shouted, as he knocked a prisoner to the floor with the butt of his gun. Making the other prisoners flinch in fear.

“So, this crap hole is their dark world.” Clint commented with a grimace.

“It’s hard to believe a place miserable like this actually exists. In any world.” Charles murmured, eyes trailing over the prisoners’ faces.

“I wish I can share your sentiment, Charles, but to be honest, I expect anything by now.” Dean muttered bitterly, as he eyed the cuffs around his wrests.

“Keep moving!”

“All prisoners stay away from the gate!”

The shouts continued as the soldiers led another group of prisoners.

Tony’s eyes trained on the prisoners, noticing there was stars and triangles taped to their chests with different colors each group.

“Stars and triangles?” Tony asked with a frown, trying to figure out what it means.

“Badges used to identify purported crimes that these poor shits ‘committed’ to land in here.” Bucky explain, looking nervous and tense. “The Nazis used to do that during the war.”

Dean kept trying to get out of the cuffs, while Charles clutched the collar around his neck and tried to pull it off.

Tony noticed one of the prisoners was staring hard at Charles, almost in a confused shock. He also noticed that there was a star on his chest.

“Hey, you.” Tony called out to the strange prisoner, who turned to look at him, only to freeze with obvious fear. Understandable, probably thinking Tony was his bastard self. “What’s that star for? What did you do?”

The man eyed him carefully, looking nervous.

“I am Jewish.” He answered, like that was answer enough. Which it was.

“God, he really is taking the Hitler role to full heart.” Natasha muttered nervously.

“We need to get out of these things.” Clint said, as he gestured to the cuffs in his hands.

“It’s impossible. I tried everything.” Dean muttered bitterly with a shake of his head.

“These power dampening collars are driving me mad.” Charles groaned, as he tugged sharply at the collar.

“Wait, why are we wearing those collars?” Clint asked in confusion. “Aside from Charles, none of us have any powers.”

“Don’t know, but it doesn’t matter.” Natasha frowned as she trailed her eyes on their surroundings again. “There are too many guards here anyways.”

“They are gonna kill Cas.” Dean burst out suddenly, as he looked at them desperately. “And they took Steve too, obviously for another sick reason.”

“We will get out of this.” Tony stated as confidently as he could, while trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart and the fact that he could no longer feel Steve’s heartbeat in their wedding ring, which meant that he was either not in this world or worse. “I promise, Dean. We won’t let them hurt Cas, and we will find Steve.”

“We will get back to our world before then.” Natasha said firmly, looking confident.

“How? We don’t even know how we got here.” Bucky sighed nervously.

“No, we don’t. We are going to figure it out.” Charles interjected, looking determined as he exchanged a look with Dean and Tony. “We will find a way to get out of this place and we will get back to the people we love.”

“God, I hope everyone else is okay.” Clint murmured, making the others exchange worried looks at his words.

***

Erik woke up at the sound of a ball bouncing repeatedly against a glass surface.

He blinked his eyes open slowly, before everything came back to him suddenly, then he was sitting up with a sharp gasp and wide eyes. Only to find himself in an enforced glass cube and his friends and family in a similar position around him, each one in a cube.

“Nice to see you finally awake.” Steve greeted him from the cell right next to his, where he was sitting cross legged on the floor, with a bitter look in his eyes.

“Steve. Charles. Where is Charles?” he asked in a choked off voice when he noticed that his husband was no where to be seen. Then he noticed the absence of more important people. “Wait, Tony, Dean and Castiel. Romanov, Barton and Barnes. Where are they?”

“They were taken to our doppelgangers’ world.” Steve answered bitterly, staring down at his hands in his lap. “All except for Cas. They are weakening him at the moment to be able to crack open his chest and take his heart to save their Castiel.”

Erik felt a cold shiver ran through his body at the amount of terrible news sent his way.

“The guy just woke up, Steve. Take it easy on him.” Sam sighed as he tried to get comfortable on the floor of his cell, that he looked comically too large for.

“Wait, let me get this straight.” Erik shook his head sharply, ignoring the pain that shot through it, while trying not to focus on the sound of a ball hitting a wall repeatedly. “My husband and friends are currently in a dark world, ruled by your doublegangers, who are pretty much the reincarnation of the Nazis. Castiel is about to have his heart surgically removed from his body, and we are trapped here in a dungeon built by Tony Stark?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Steve sighed tiredly.

Erik blinked for a few seconds, before suddenly bursting out in a long trail of curses in every language he spoke. Which apparently were a lot.

“You are going to make a fortune from him when he pays for your Swear Jar.” Thor commented as he stared at the enraged mutant.

“I don’t understand half of what he is saying. Although, I caught a few filthy curses in German and French so far.” Steve was blinking at the metal binder, not even trying to calm him down. It was pointless anyway, no matter what he says, the mutant will not calm down.

“I should have fucking went on that goddamned mission! Of all the people you could have taken, you took Charles?! Who couldn’t even run properly yet? Are you fucking kidding me?!” Erik shouted that in German at Steve’s face, effectively sounding like any self-respecting Nazi. He apparently forgot the English language in the middle of his rage.

“Sorry, I don’t speak German. Try another language.” Steve lied innocently, not really wanting to deal with any kind of blame right now.

“A soldier from World War II can’t speak German? Bullshit and you know it!”

“I am too exhausted to switch to another language at the moment.”

“Fucking hell, who is throwing a damn ball?!” Erik erupted again, when the sound of throwing ball kept repeating stubbornly.

“Why? Is it bothering you?” Logan, the one with a small ball, asked as he kept throwing the ball against the glass of the cell.

“Yes!”

“Oh, okay.” Logan just kept throwing the ball a little faster than before.

“You piece of shit, stop!”

“Break through the cell and stop me, Daddy Shark.”

“Are they going to do that the whole time we are in here?” Bruce asked. Looking miserable.

“Cut it out!”

“Cut what out?”

“The ball throwing, you animal!”

“Sorry, I don’t speak French.”

“Probably.” Steve sighed in answer to Bruce’s question. Trying so hard to calm his rapidly beating heart.

He didn’t care about what Dark Tony was planning to do with him. He was more worried about Tony and his friends in the dark world.

He was also worried about his best friend, who was about to lose his heart.

And he was unable to save any one of them.

***

Castiel woke up slowly, eyes squinting against a red light that was directed at him.

He looked down on himself to find that he was strapped by the arms and legs to a surgery table, and he was completely powerless to even try to break out of the bindings.

“Nice Tower you got here.” A familiar voice said from behind him, but it was all wrong. Filled with cruelty instead of the usual warmth of that voice. “Of course it is nice, it was built by a version of me, so it is expected. Even if that version was too weak for my liking.”

Castiel strained his neck, until he saw Dark Tony coming towards him with an ugly smirk on his face.

“Where are my friends?” Castiel demanded as he glared up at the man.

“Your friends are in my home world.” Dark Tony just shrugged as he enjoyed the look of panic that crossed Castiel’s face at the news. “I wouldn’t worry about your friends too long, because-“ he leaned down to whisper in the angel’s ear. “-They are not going to be alive much longer.”

He leaned back and Castiel felt dread rise up inside him, then pulled at his bindings more harshly, but with no use.

“That’s because of that red light.” Dark Castiel’s amused voice rang in the room, as he approached Castiel with a small smirk. “It will make you weaker than you can possibly imagine.”

Castiel panted from the effort as he stared up at his doppelganger, who stumbled on his feet for a second, before stabilizing himself again.

Dark Tony gave him a look, that the dark angel just brushed off.

“You did all of this just to get me?” Castiel asked in both shock and anger. “Do you know how many innocent people you killed?”

“Their lives to save mine?” Dark Castiel just chuckled as he raised an eyebrow at the strapped angel, before moving to sit on a chair. “Well, they should feel honored.”

Castiel kept struggling weakly against the straps, while his doppelganger stared in amusement.

“It is a strange sensation, isn’t it?” Dark Castiel whispered with a smirk. “To feel vulnerable.”

"And it’s just gonna get worse.” Dark Tony added as he flipped a scalpel in his hand, moving to stand over the angel. “This red light will continue to soften you up. Until pretty soon, I am going to crack you open like a walnut.” He leaned over to get his face close to Castiel’s. “Then, I am going to take your healthy heart, and put it in him.” He gestured towards Dark Castiel, who seemed to enjoy the whole scene.

“Come on, we need to get you going.” Dark Tony nodded towards the Dark Angel.

“Good, that will give me time to talk to-well, myself.” Dark Castiel let out a laugh, as Castiel tried to hide the cold shiver that ran through him at the words.

***

In a vent close to ceiling of the room, Raven turned to Charlie with wide eyes, after they heard the conversation that took place in the med bay.

“Did you hear that?” Raven whispered frantically, as she turned fully to Charlie. “Everyone on Team A are in the Dark world!”

“And Cas only has a few hours, before they go full Mengele on him.” Charlie continued with a horrified look on her face.

“We gotta stop them.” Raven stated firmly, trying to hide her fear.

“Got any ideas?”

“I don’t know.” Raven shook her head with a sigh. “Just give me some time to think.”

“Raven, I am all for girl power and everything, but how you and I are gonna stop the meaner, Nazi versions of four of the strongest people in our lives?” Charlie murmured in confusion.

“Maybe we don’t have to.” Raven said with wide eyes as she seemed to have a plan. “We just need to get to the dungeon, get Hank, Steve and Erik out. Hank could turn off the power in the entire Tower, while Erik and Steve could get us all out of here.”

“Do you know how to get to the dungeon from here?” Charlie asked hopefully.

“I think so.” Raven answered while looking around.

“Lead the way, McClain.”


	14. Chapter 14

Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded in the camp.

The prisoners started to move from around them to huddle in a corner of the yard, looking terrified, while the soldiers were shouting at them from everywhere to move.

“I don’t like the looks of this.” Dean murmured nervously as the six of them looked around in confusion.

“What’s going on?” Charles asked in worry, hating the fact that he couldn’t know the answer from the minds surrounding him.

“I don’t know.” Tony answered as he frowned in confusion, then turned to the man who was still staring at Charles. “What are we doing?”

“It’s round up time.” The man answered in a frustrated tone, that made Tony frown at him in confusion. That didn’t sound like a defeated prisoner like the others.

“Round up for what?” Natasha questioned with a confused scowl on her face.

A group of heavily armed soldiers entered the yard and gestured towards them firmly.

“In line. Now!” one of them ordered harshly, aiming their guns at them.

The six of them took a step back, while looking around the cowering prisoners nervously.

The gate opened and they tensed when they saw two figures entering the yard, with sure heavy steps.

“Guys.” Bucky murmured softly as he saw that one of the two figures was none other than Dark Steve, who eyed them with a complete dead look in his eyes.

The other figure gave them a pause as shock fell on them like lightening.

Dressed completely in black, Bobby Singer of this world stepped towards them with a harsh, cruel look on his face that felt completely wrong.

“Oh, God.” Dean murmured as he shared a wide-eyed look with Tony. Both not believing the new, dark face. 

“So, these are the heroes.” Dark Bobby grimaced at them in disdain, like they were abominations and freaks of nature.

“Yes, commander.” One of the soldiers confirmed in deep respect.

The only thing they could do was stare, as Dark Bobby stopped a few feet away from them, with Dark Steve silent beside him, both eyeing them with dead eyes.

“This is too much. It’s just keeps getting worse.” Dean murmured under his breath, chest tightening at seeing his surrogate father looking at him with so much disdain and cruelty on his face.

Dark Bobby’s eyes landed on Dean and he scoffed, eyeing him from head to toe.

“You know, before I met the king, I had a son who looked exactly like you. He alleged himself with the unpure as well, like you.” He said as he stepped closer to Dean, letting his eyes travel over Dean’s face. “And I expunged that filth from my family line forever.”

Dean flinched at the amount of cruelty in the man’s voice, feeling it like a slap to his face.

“Bring them all.” Dark Bobby ordered firmly, eyes trailing over them, then his eyes landed on the man who Tony talked to earlier, currently eyeing the commander defiantly. “And him!”

“Move! Now!” the soldiers shouted at them, nudging them harshly with their guns.

“Hey, don’t hit him in the back!” Tony exclaimed at a soldier, who pushed Charles harshly from the back, ignoring his pained wince.

“Shut up and move!” the soldier shouted as he aimed his gun at Tony.

“Tony, stay silent and walk.” Natasha whispered, while Dean nudged him away to make him move, Bucky and Clint helped a pained looking Charles to walk as well.

The seven prisoners were led out of the yard and made to walk through a huge dark field, guns aimed at them at all times.

“Not to be an alarmist, but if we don’t have an escape plan, I suggest we get one immediately.” Charles said, as he looked at his companions urgently.

Dean looked discreetly behind him at the soldiers following him, then out of sight he gestured with his chained hand with four fingers, indicating that there were four soldiers behind him.

Natasha caught the gesture and took a look behind her, then gestured there were three other soldiers she could see.

Dean nodded at Clint and Bucky, who nodded back at him, then gave a meaningful look to Tony, that meant to take Charles and run when they attack.

They waited a few more seconds, before they all moved at the same time.

But, apparently, Steve Rogers was observant no matter what version of him it was.

The moment they moved, he raised a device towards them and pressed it.

Electricity shot from the collars around their necks so high, that the seven of them hit the ground while groaning in pain and agony.

The pain was short and fast, but it was enough to render them to their knees and pant harshly, even after it was gone.

“So, that’s why we are all wearing collars.” Clint let out in a pained voice.

“Up!” Dark Bobby commanded harshly, eyeing them mockingly.

Panting, they all looked up at Dean, who was staring at the ground with wide eyes, looking almost defeated, before pushing himself to his feet. They all followed his lead silently. The strange prisoner with them was giving them weird looks.

“Go.” Dark Bobby gestured for them to keep walking.

They had no choice, but to obey.

They kept walking in a horizontal line, until they found themselves staring down at a long, deep ditch.

“Turn around.” The dark commander ordered from behind them.

They turned to face him, looking at him defiantly, despite their hopeless situation.

Dark Bobby walked towards them, stopping in front of Dean.

“I know you are not him,” He said as he eyed Dean disdainfully. “But I cannot stomach the sight regardless.”

With that he forced a black bag over Dean’s head to hide his face, before turning around and walk back to stand before the soldiers.

“Ready!”

“Guys, I am sorry.” Dean murmured from behind the bag in defeat, feeling his heart breaking apart. Castiel was going to die, and he won’t be able to even save him. “I couldn’t get you out of this. I couldn’t save Cas or Steve. I am sorry.”

“Not your fault.” Tony murmured, feeling a tear slid down his face. Realizing it was the end. He won’t get to see his husband’s face again, nor he will ever know what happened to him. “None of this is your fault. We failed together. We handle it together.”

“Erik is going to be so mad.” Charles chuckled bitterly, a few tears were running down his face. “I can almost hear his ‘I told you so’ from worlds away.”

“Seventy years later, and I will yet again die by Nazis.” Bucky murmured bitterly. “Ironic, isn’t it? Sam fucking Wilson will have a good laugh about it, after cursing me for dying.”

“I am going to die single, aren’t I?” Clint whispered in pure bitterness. “No one is going to mourn me.”

“I really wanted to marry your brother, Dean.” Natasha whispered, barley holding back her tears. “I really wanted to be your sister.”

That managed to break the rest of Dean’s heart and he could longer hold back the tears that decided to fall from his eyes.

“Aim!”

The sounds of guns cocking sounded loudly around them, as the soldiers raised the weapons at their faces, ready to shoot them to death.

And the heroes just stared back, accepting their fate with defiance on their faces.

A tense moment that seemed to last forever, as Dark Bobby raised his hand, ready to say the final order.

“Fire!”

The sound of hundreds of bullets rang through the wide, empty field.

***

The bullets ran down on them, but before any managed to touch them, the bullets froze in midair, then was sent back to their shooters, killing a few of them in the process.

They froze, heart pounding in their chests as they stared at what just happened, as a hooded man appeared from nowhere, holding a bow and arrows, and was shooting at the soldiers with accuracy that felt like he was controlling the very arrows themselves.

They couldn’t see the man’s face from his hood, but these powers, this ruthlessness, that physique and height. They will know it anywhere.

“Erik?!” Charles and Tony exclaimed in pure shock, while Dean removed the bag from over his head to stare with wide eyes at the chaos around them.

The hooded man startled a little at their shout and turned to them sharply, letting them see his shadowy face from under his hood.

“Oh, God, Erik.” Charles whispered frantically.

“About time!” the strange prisoner with them shouted in relief, making them turn to him in confusion.

“Kill them all!” Dark Bobby shouted, as he ducked behind a very frustrated Dark Steve.

“Take cover in the ditch! Now!” the hooded Erik shouted at them, before turning back to the soldiers, sending back the bullets they were shooting at them.

“You don’t have to tell us twice.” Clint murmured, while they all turned to jump into the ditch.

“Wait, we need to help him!” Charles exclaimed frantically, as he was forced into the ditch by Dean and Tony.

“He will be fine. You will just be a liability.” The strange prisoner said firmly, looking expectantly at the fight raging up there.

“Okay, seriously, who are you?” Tony asked in frustration.

“More importantly, is that our Erik?” Natasha asked carefully, hearing an explosion and the sound of soldiers shouting.

Before anyone could answer, the hooded Erik jumped into the ditch gracefully, landing lightly between them.

“You were late.” The strange prisoner reprimanded with a displeased frown.

“And you made new friends.” Hooded Erik retorted, as he used a key to remove the glowing collar from around the prisoner’s neck.

The moment the collar fell off, the prisoner’s appearance shifted completely in a familiar way.

“Raven?!” Charles uttered with wide eyes, as they all stared at the familiar, blue skinned woman.

“Wait, you two, are you-“ Dean begin to ask, but was interrupted.

“Not from your world.” Raven cut him off with a raised eyebrow starting to use the key that released her to remove their chains and collars as well, while Hooded Erik didn’t even glance at them, as he jumped swiftly out of the ditch.

They heard another explosion, before things went erringly quiet with a distance shouts coming from the camp.

“Let’s go. Move it.” The hooded Erik called out urgently in a firm voice.

The seven of them carefully got out of the ditch, taking in the scene.

The soldiers were scattered everywhere, some unconscious, some dead. A few feet away, they could see the unconscious bodies of Dark Steve and Bobby.

“Where are we going?” Dean asked carefully.

“To our base.” AU Raven answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Your base?” Tony repeated in confusion.

“Wait, so you two really from this world?” Charles asked looking disappointed.

“Just like you are not from this world.” Hooded Erik eyed them coldly, eyes lingering a little on Charles, before looking away with a deep frown. The sounds of shouting and gunfire were getting closer. “We can’t talk here. Let’s move.”

With that, AU Erik and Raven sprinted away in a specific direction. The six of them exchanged hesitant looks.

“We don’t have any better choice anyway.” Dean stated with a shrug.

That was enough. With that they sprinted behind the two mutants.

Not noticing the dark figure that slowly got to his feet and reached for his shield, eyes trained on them.

***

Castiel felt the weakest he had been for a long time.

He was pretty sure he was close to a human now than an angel. Trying to breakthrough the bindings was making him pant like he was running a marathon.

This was bad.

“You certainly looking more human now.” Dark Tony came closer to stand above him, an ugly smirk on his face. “Scared. Weak. Pathetic. I can hear your raging heartbeat. Try not to weaken it. That will put us in an awkward situation.”

Castiel’s eyes trailed over the Dark genius, stopping at his chest, where he still had the arc reactor over his heart.

“What the hell happened to you?” Castiel asked, moving his gaze up to meet the man’s eyes. Even his eyes looked nothing like the Tony he knows. Tony’s eyes always were filled with warmth and kindness. The ones he was staring into right now, they were cruel and cold in an unsettling way. “You obviously share the same past as our Tony. What happened to you that turned you into this?”

Dark Tony raised an eyebrow at him, lips pulled down in a deep frown that almost looked pained.

“We don’t share the same past.” Dark Tony spit out as he looked away. “Not completely anyway. I _was_ kidnapped in Afghanistan and held captive for three months. That was the beginning.”

He turned back to Castiel, an almost crazy glint in his eyes as he leaned over the angel.

“When I came back, I was in a horrible state. Destructive. Betrayed. Unstable. Some called me war criminal even, after the news that the terrorists were using my weapons. I was scorned. Humiliated. Cast out of my own company. Everyone around me left me behind, no one wanting to deal with the human mess I became. I was ready to end it all. Relieve the world from the evil they kept seeing in me. End the monster.” He leaned more closer, his face almost touching Castiel’s now. “But then I met him. Dean Fucking Winchester. The real monster, the devil himself, disguised in the shape of a persuasive, vicious hunter. Do you know what he told me?”

He moved his hand to grip Castiel’s hair tightly, forcing him to meet his dead eyes.

“He told me since the world kept seeing me as a monster, then why not embrace it? Why not become the monster they all expect me to be? This is a cruel world. It will devour you if you are weak. The only way to survive, is to become crueler than the world itself. You know what I did?” a crazy, wide smirk took over the dark genius’ face. “I used the very suit I was planning to use for ‘good deeds’ and all that crap. I used it to get back what’s mine forcefully. I killed every single one who betrayed or turned their back on me. I enjoyed every second of it.”

Castiel’s heart was beating hard in his chest at the pure cruelty and venom that filled the man’s face.

“Dean Winchester made the thing I am now. I hate him for it, but damn am I grateful for that sick, cold bastard.” He let out a loud, unhinged laugh that made Castiel cringe.

“You might still be helped.” Castiel tried, even if he was only half believing his own words, but he needed to try.

“And become what? That pathetic version of me that you have here?” he snarled in disdain at the mention of Tony. “Giving his heart willingly to the one person Howard Stark tormented us with! To the perfect soldier who did nothing, even while he was supposedly dead, but kept reminding us that we are unworthy. That I will never be as perfect as he was. Well, guess what? That perfect soldier is my bitch now! And I will make all his versions, in all the worlds, my bitches!”

The angel tried to not let the cold shiver that ran through his body too obvious. He was staring at a deranged, unhinged monster that decided to follow a devil.

He was beyond help.

“Now, now, little angel.” He turned to him again, a sick smirk on his face. “Why do you need your heart anyway? It will only be broken eventually. I am saving you a lot of trouble.”

Castiel’s body tensed as he stared up the dark man.

“At least I have a heart.” 


	15. Chapter 15

A vent opened from the ceiling of the dungeon, finally managing to stop Erik and Logan’s screaming matches, as everyone glanced up at the ceiling.

From it, jumped Raven then Charlie, landing swiftly in the middle of the room.

“Girls! You are alright?” Steve exclaimed in relief when he saw them.

“When I told you to hide, you did a very good job.” Erik commented, looking impressed.

“Do you have any news of the team stuck in the other world?” Sam called out desperately, terrified for his brother, fiancée and friends.

“We will get you guys out first, then we will talk.” Raven assured, as Charlie rushed to the controllers to try to open the cells.

“Behind you!” Logan and Thor shouted, as they noticed two armed soldiers rushing towards the two women.

“Freeze!” one of them ordered firmly, raising their guns at them.

Raven and Charlie took a step back, before the former shifted herself into one of the soldiers, managing to startle them long enough for the two women to jump forward, grabbing their guns and slam them to their faces.

When the two soldiers fell to the floor, unconscious, the trapped heroes whooped in pride.

“That was badass!” Wilson exclaimed with a grin.

“I know!” Charlie chuckled, as Raven shifted back to herself to grin at her.

“Did I mention that you girls are my favorite couple?” Rhodey winked at them with a smile.

“That will break Tony’s heart, Rhodey.” Steve smirked over at him.

“He will get over it!”

“Come on, get us out.” Erik urged them, eyes darting around for more soldiers.

Charlie rushed to the controllers and kept pressing several times to open the cells, but nothing was happening.

“Damn it, you have got to be kidding me!” she yelled in frustration, when all her attempts went to waste.

“What is it?” Raven asked nervously.

“Their Tony changed the cells doors codes! No matter what I do, it won’t budge.” She explained in increased frustration.

“So, we are trapped, until their Tony decide to let us out?” Hank murmured with wide eyes.

“Or if our Tony came back.” Bruce sighed, his words making Steve flinch at the obvious ‘If’.

“Girls, forget about us for now.” Steve said firmly, trying to control his scattered emotions and panic. “It’s up to you to save Castiel. He doesn’t have much time!”

***

The six of them followed behind the AU Erik and Raven, who didn’t try to speak or glance at them, not to mention feeling exhausted and confused as hell. They were walking through a complicated underground tunnels, that seemed like the two mutants knew by heart.

“Are we going to talk about what’s happening?” Clint asked, as he looked at his friends helplessly. Hoping for anything.

“Honestly? I have no idea what we should discuss first.” Dean sighed in frustration, while shutting his eyes in exhaustion. Fuck, that was becoming a really long day.

“We need to recap then.” Tony started with a deep frown, as he tried to rearrange his thoughts. “We are trapped somehow in this Dark World, where there are evil doppelgangers of Dean, Castiel, me, Steve and Bobby so far. Dark Castiel is dying and planning to take the healthy heart of our Castiel to save himself.” He placed a calming hand on Dean’s shoulder when he tensed at that.

“Then, we are saved from a concentration camp by doppelgangers of my husband and sister, who we still have no idea what are their statues in this world.” Charles added grimly, eyeing the aforementioned doppelgangers carefully.

“I wonder what happened to their Charles.” Natasha murmured absentmindedly, making the others turn to her in surprise.

“Why are you assuming that something happened to this world’s Charles?” Bucky asked in confusion.

“If there is a Charles in their lives, they won’t be in this state.” Natasha raised an eyebrow at them, like what she was saying was the most obvious thing ever. Which kinda was. “Look at them, they are driven by anger and bitterness. There is only one thing that could render them to this state and you all know it.”

They exchanged glances, unable to deny that fact.

“Do you think bastard me did something to him too?” Tony wondered with a deep frown.

“Honestly, man, I will expect anything by now.” Dean shook his head with a sigh.

“I still don’t understand why they took our Steve. What could they possibly want fro-“

“Isn’t it obvious? Fucking Stark will make him another Sex Toy.” AU Raven interrupted Tony, turning to him with a raised eyebrow.

They turned wide eyes towards her, feeling their hearts drop to their feet like one.

“What? Why are you sure about that?” Tony exclaimed a little too loudly, his voice ringing through the tunnel’s walls.

“Keep your damn voice down.” AU Erik snapped at him harshly, turning a withering glare at him, that made Tony snap his mouth shut and the others took a careful step back.

“From what I gathered, our past is pretty much the same with slight, but major, changes, right?” AU Raven started carefully. After their nod, she continued. “Well, in this world, I was close to Stark like a sister for what feels like a lifetime ago. So, I know how he thinks. He definitely took your Captain America to turn him into another sex slave like he did with ours.”

“Oh, God.” Tony’s face paled, as he felt his chest tighten in panic and fear. “Oh, God, no. No.”

“Hey, hey, it is going to be alright.” Dean and Charles rushed in to calm him, before he went into a full-on panic attack. “We will get back in time to save both Cas and Steve. We just nee-“

“Stop talking.” AU Erik interrupted him suddenly, stopping in the middle of the tunnel and gripped his bow tightly.

“What is it?” Clint asked nervously, eyeing the bow in envy. Missing his own so bad at the moment.

“We are being followed.” AU Erik announced grimly, his posture tight and tense.

The moment he said that, a very familiar sound of a particular metal cutting through the air echoed in the tunnel.

Followed by a black circular shield that was two seconds away from hitting Tony straight in the head, if Dean and Bucky didn’t push him away in time.

They stared with wide eyes as the shield rebounded against the wall and back to its owner, who stood at the beginning of the tunnel behind them, dressed in black and a cold, dead look on his face as he caught the shield.

“Dammit, he followed us!” AU Erik growled as they all turned to face the mind-controlled soldier, who was currently charging towards them with all his might.

“I thought you knocked him out with the others!” Tony exclaimed, as he and Charles were being pushed behind by Dean and Natasha.

“You try to knock out Captain America long enough to escape!” AU Raven shouted at him defensively.

Dark Steve reached them then, Bucky and Dean immediately got in front of him, while Clint and Natasha attacked from behind.

It was weird for them, having to attack a version of Steve so viciously, but the dead, cold look on that face helped to ease the guilt.

However, he was way more vicious than their Steve. He attacked with all his might, knocking Clint and Natasha into each other, hit Bucky in the face with his shield, then threw it to knock over AU Raven, then gripped Dean’s throat in a tight grip.

“Fuck. Being strangled by Steve Rogers twice in less than three months is a lot.” Dean choked out painfully, trying to remove the hand from around his throat. 

“Dean!” Tony exclaimed in panic and was about to rush in to help, but was pushed away harshly by AU Erik.

The metal binder aimed his bow at the soldier’s neck, ready to shoot.

“Release him.” He ordered in a hard voice, making Dark Steve look at him from the corner of his eyes. “Release him, or I will shoot you in the neck.”

Dark Steve didn’t seem to care about his threat and just proceeded to tighten his hold on Dean, whose face was startingly blue.

“He is going to kill him!” Natasha panicked as she tried to get to her feet fast.

“Release him!” Tony and Bucky shouted in panic.

Dark Steve suddenly froze, hand going slack around Dean’s throat, before collapsing to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

They blinked at his fallen body, then looked up to see Charles, who sneaked behind the soldier and pressed his fingers to his temples.

“What did you do?” Tony breathed out in awe as he leaned down with Clint to help Dean back to his feet.

“I unlocked his mind.” Charles announced with a sad twist to his lips, obviously hating to invade someone’s mind like that.

“What do you mean? You removed his mind control?” Bucky asked with wide eyes.

“I don’t know. I think so? We will only know when he wakes up.”

“He will not wake up.” AU Erik stated icily, as he pulled out a knife and charged towards the fallen body.

“Wait, no! Don’t!” they all shouted frantically, while Charles rushed to come between the mutant and the fallen soldier.

“Wait, please! He doesn’t deserve to die! His mind was controlled!” Charles tried to reason, willing his heart to stop beating so hard. He sure looked like his husband, but he had a cruel, cold look on his face that was no longer on his Erik’s face for almost a decade now. Seeing it again with more intensity was unsettling.

“I don’t care. He followed us. He knows where we are going and will report to fucking Stark. I can’t let that happen.” He shook his head firmly and moved to side step Charles, who got stubbornly in his way again.

“I did something to his mind. He might be back to normal now. He will be Captain America again! Don’t you think this will be a valuable asset to you? To your people?” The telepath talked in a soothing voice, that always managed to make his Erik relent, hoping that it will have the same effect with his doppelganger.

AU Erik had a pained look on his face, as his eyes met Charles’, but only for a second, then his face was back to his cold state so fast, that Charles thought he imagined it.

“And what if he woke up and he was still in his Sex slave state? He can kill us all, if he wanted to.” Erik demanded with a raised eyebrow.

“Tie him up and I will try again to release his mind. Just don’t kill him, please.” Charles was getting desperate; he was ready to beg if he had to. “He doesn’t deserve to die, while being like this. No one does.”

AU Erik just eyed Charles for a few tense seconds, before looking away.

“Carry him and let’s go.” He ordered, then turned swiftly and marched back through the tunnel, without giving them a second glance. 

“Thank you.” Tony murmured to Charles with a grateful smile, as Clint and Bucky grabbed the fallen soldier and started to drag him with them.

“Are you getting a kick out of saving our asses?” Dean smiled over at him, as he clapped his shoulder heartly.

“It’s the least I could do. I don’t want to feel useless anymore.” Charles murmured, but his eyes remained on AU Erik’s back, noticing how AU Raven had managed to completely avoid his eyes so far as she followed behind the former. “Natasha, you were right.”

“Like usual, but you need to be specific.” She turned to him curiously along with the others.

“Something terrible happened to their Charles.” He announced with a frown, feeling his heart break for those two in front of them. “I don’t know what, but it broke those two in a terrible way.”


	16. Chapter 16

Finally, they stopped in front of a huge metal door at the end of the tunnel, which opened the moment AU Erik placed his hand on a specific place, and thin, red laser scanned his eyes.

The door opened, revealing what could only be described as a beehive.

Mutants and humans alike, some familiar and some not so much, were moving around, surrounded by ancient looking computers and machines, moving supplies, shouting orders at each other, loading guns and all kinds of weapons.

The six of them stepped inside, watching everything with wide eyes, while Clint and Bucky were still dragging the unconscious Dark Steve with them.

The moment AU Erik stepped inside the beehive, everyone stood at attention as they looked at him with deep, devoted respect.

“Commander Lehnsherr!” They all saluted together like one strong voice.

AU Erik just gave them a nod, which apparently was enough for them to nod back and get back to their work.

“Okay, wow.” Tony murmured in disbelieve as he stared at the Metal binder with wide eyes. “That is unexpected.”

“Not really. Erik could be an amazing, well respected leader when he wants to be.” Charles just shrugged with a soft smile, feeling an ache in his heart.

God, he missed his Erik terribly.

“Beast! Havok!” AU Erik called out in a strong voice. Almost immediately, Hank and Alex Summers were in front of him in attention, the former in his beast form. “Take the prisoner. Make sure he is chained properly. Place one of the collars around his neck.”

“Yes, sir.” They nodded and turned to them, only to freeze and take a terrified step back when their eyes landed on Dean, Tony and the unconscious Dark Steve.

They were probably not sure which one of them was the prisoner.

Then their eyes met Charles’ and they looked like they were staring at a ghost, from how pale and confused they were.

“Commander, what-what? The king? And-and-“ AU Hank stammered as he looked at AU Erik, who kept his calm cold face.

“Take the unconscious soldier. Ignore the rest.” He ordered calmly, not even bothering to explain the situation.

It seemed like the two mutants trusted that version of Erik enough to only nod, and move to take the unconscious soldier from Clint and Bucky, while eyeing Charles specifically with sad, confused eyes, before moving out with the prisoner.

“Aren’t you going to explain to them who we are?” Natasha asked curiously, looking over at AU Erik. The Mutant just gave her an empty look, not answering.

“We will gather them all later and explain everything.” AU Raven was the one to answer, as she waved someone over to them.

They looked up at who she was waving to, only to see an AU Logan coming over to them, while eyeing them curiously.

“The whole X-Men are here apparently.” Dean commented as he watched AU Raven, Logan and Erik talk quietly among themselves.

“What’s more confusing is the presence of humans here.” Tony said in confusion. “I thought no version of Erik will tolerate working with all these humans.”

“Who are these people anyway?” Clint asked in frustration.

“We are the Freedom Fighters.” AU Logan announced as he approached them with AU Raven. He trailed his eyes over them, before stopping at Charles for longer than necessary. “So, let me get this straight. You two are the good doppelgangers of the King and his mad scientist from another world?” he nodded over at Dean and Tony respectively.

“’Good’ might be an oversimplification.” Natasha commented with a smirk, ignoring Tony and Dean’s glares.

“And you three from that world too, but have no powers.” He pointed at Natasha, Bucky and Clint. “And obviously, you are not our Charles. Am I getting all this right?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Dean just shrugged at him with a tired smile.

“Don’t you have doppelgangers of us here?” Clint asked curiously.

“Used to. When the crazy king and his three goons destroyed SHIELD, they killed everyone there, starting from Nick Fury until the recruits themselves. Including our Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov.” AU Raven reported grimly.

“You killed us?!” Clint and Natasha exclaimed, as they turned to Dean with wide eyes.

“That wasn’t even me! Why are you yelling at me?” Dean looked indignantly at them. “But damn, you have to admit, that guy is efficient in a really scary way.”

“As for you,” AU Logan looked over at Bucky. “We had one of you. The Winter Soldier, a cold-hearted assassin for the king. Our commander killed you a few years ago.”

“Let me guess. He killed him with his own metal arm by his powers?” Bucky asked, looking strangely amused by this.

“Yes, exactly.”

“That must have been funny. Probably played ‘why are you hitting yourself’ with him too.” Bucky chuckled in amusement, finally noticing the strange looks his friends were giving him. “What? He obviously deserves it; you have to admit that.”

“Your self-loathing is blowing my mind.” Tony commented with a roll of his eyes.

“Anyway,” Charles eyed Bucky in concern, before turning to AU Logan and Raven, while trying to ignore their piercing looks that they keep giving him. “Do you know how they brought us here?”

The two AU mutants exchanged a meaningful look.

“Yeah, we have a pretty good idea.” AU Raven nodded with a sigh, before grabbing a tablet from a nearby table and tapped on it for a few seconds. “I think you guys came from this.”

She showed them a 3D illustration of an oval shaped gateway.

“A temporal gateway?” Charles murmured with a frown.

“Same physics as a breach through the worlds, just more stable and much larger.” Tony murmured as he eyed the small screen with deep attention.

“So, we have a way to get back.” Dean announced with a hopeful look.

Charles noticed that AU Logan and Raven were avoiding their eyes now.

“Where’s is this thing?” Natasha asked carefully, also noticing their strange behavior.

“It’s actually not too far from here. About 22.2 kilometers to be exact. Obviously, need to drive to it.” AU Logan shrugged, still not looking at them.

“Then take us to it.” Dean urged eagerly, stepping closer towards them.

“We can’t do that.” AU Raven sighed sadly, as she looked away from them.

“Why?” Natasha demanded with a frown.

“Because the gateway is in a facility guarded by a not-so-small army of New Nazis.” AU Logan stated with raised eyebrows. 

“Yeah, well, we have faced worse, so..” Tony just rolled his eyes.

“Look, it is our only way home.” Dean said firmly, undeterred. “We are going through it.”

“Nobody’s is going through anything.” AU Erik’s firm, harsh voice startled them, as he approached them again with firm steady steps. “Because we are blowing it the hell up.”

“What? Why?” Clint exclaimed in panic.

“Why do you want to blow our only way home?” Tony eyed him with wide eyes.

“We don’t exactly want to.” AU Logan said as he and Raven moved to stand beside their commander.

“Everyone we care about is on the other side if that gateway, imprisoned by _your_ new Nazis.” Natasha snapped with a frustrated glare.

“The Nazis who want to cut open my husband. We have to get back!” Dean exclaimed desperately.

“Eliminate that facility and you eliminate our only chance of saving our friends and family from your enemies.” Charles tried to speak calmly, but couldn’t help the frustration that leaked into his voice.

“I am sorry, but we have been waiting for an opportunity like this for years. We can not wait any longer.” AU Erik interrupted their exclaims and protests firmly. “This is our only chance to separate the king from his army. We are trying to turn this war around.”

“You are gonna leave _our_ world at the mercy of the three psychopaths, who have ravaged yours!” Dean shouted in rage as he looked at the mutant indignantly.

“Watch your tone when you speak to me, Good Copy. You should feel thankful I let you in here with your little friend, even though you two look exactly like the two men I want to kill the most.” AU Erik snarled as he glared hard at Dean and Tony. 

“Look, Eri-I mean, Commander.” Natasha interjected a little calmly, trying to diffuse the tension. “All we are asking is for a little bit of time. Let us get into the facility and through that gateway.”

“The gateway is guarded by 30 panzer XIIs, 50 Sturmtigers and a squad of 100 hundred officer.” AU Logan reported with pursed lips. “Not the best odds, maybe.”

“We will take them.” Tony said firmly.

“No, you will not.” AU Erik snapped in a tone that suggest no objections. “We are blowing that gateway right now. Final order.”

With that, he eyed them all with a stern look, avoided Charles’ eyes, then walked away from them towards a side room.

The six of them turn to look at each other helplessly.

“Sorry, he is a little rough around the edges.” AU Logan shrugged with a sigh. “But he is the commander and he has issued his commands.”

“Never thought I will hear these words from Logan.” Tony scoffed in frustration.

Charles eyed AU Raven and Logan for a second, before turning towards the room AU Erik disappeared into and moved to walk towards it.

“Hey, hey, hey.” AU Raven rushed to get in his way. “You won’t be able to change his mind. No one can.”

“Look, I have to try.” Charles insisted stubbornly, looking AU Raven straight in the eye. “I was always able to reason with Erik no matter how hot headed he got.”

“No matter what you will say to him, you are not his Charles.” AU Raven pointed out sternly, trying to shake his confidence.

“I need to at least try.” The telepath insisted, undeterred by her sentence.

They stared at each other tensely for a few seconds, neither of them backing down.

“Raven, let him try.” AU Logan sighed with a shake of his head.

“Thank you.” Charles gave AU Logan a small smile, that just managed to increase the sad look in his eyes.

When Charles moved this time towards the specific room, AU Raven didn’t try to stop him.

***

Charles walked into the room, to find AU Erik, with his hood pulled down, staring at a tablet placed in front of him on a huge table that took most of the room.

To Charles’ aching heart, he noticed a huge scar on the back of the mutant’s head. It was severe enough that his hair wasn’t able to cover it.

As he approached to stand next to him, the metal binder still didn’t turn to face him.

“Apparently, all your versions are unable to take an order.” AU Erik muttered with a tinge of bitterness dripping from his voice.

“I was never a soldier, so I am not good with orders. You obviously know that.” Charles said softly, willing the other to meet his eyes. He desperately wanted to reach for his mind, but he suspected this Erik won’t really appreciate it. “Erik, please, you can’t do this.”

“It’s Commander Lehnsherr.” AU Erik snapped, as he turned to Charles with a harsh glare on his face. “I don’t know if you haven’t noticed or what, but this world is in a war. We are tired! Humans. Mutants. They are all dying for absurd reasons by a devil of a man and his demons.”

“We are not asking you to surrender.” Charles tried as he reached a gentle hand to place it on the other’s arm. “Just let us get back home, before you destroy that gateway. I am just asking for a little time.”

“Time is what I can’t give you!” AU Erik barked, as he snatched his arm away like it was burned.

Charles flinched and that seemed to make the Metal Binder pause. He eyed the telepath for a second before sighing.

“They have a weapon,” he explained a little more calmly, voice strained. “A doomsday weapon powerful enough to affect other worlds. It has to be eliminated.”

Charles heart started to beat a little faster in his chest, but he still had hope.

“Erik, please.” Charles murmured softly, stepping closer to the mutant. “The king, the people you hate, they are going to kill our friends and family. A version of you is waiting for me back home. My husband. They are going to kill him.” Charles’ voice hitched as he thought of his Erik, desperately waiting for him to come back. “Please, I can’t lose him.”

The Metal Binder looked positively pained at that as he turned to look away from him, hands gripping the table in a white knuckled grip.

“You will survive.” He gritted through his teeth; pain evident in each word. “Like I, sadly, did. You will handle it much better though.”

Charles placed his hand again on his arm. This time, the mutant didn’t shake it off.

“What happened to you?” the telepath murmured softly, carefully. “What happened to him?”

AU Erik took a shuddering breath, eyes trained on the tabletop, unable to look Charles in the eyes.

“Stark. He took him away from me.” He whispered in a voice filled with pain and anger. “When he realized he was better off as a crazy, sadistic bastard, he tried to get Charles to his side. To use his powers to help him and help the fucking king. Charles refused. He and I escaped. Stayed away from all the shit they did to the world. Tried to stay hidden as long as possible. He won’t let me kill the bastard. Still having fucking hope for his childhood friend.”

He then turned to Charles; his once cold eyes were now filled with unbearable pain.

“But they found us.” His grip on the table tightened. The metal in the room started to vibrate. “They have the same mentality as the Nazis. They hunted down mutants. I am a mutant and Jewish. I was a fucking Jackpot. They took me to force Charles to come out and do what they want from him. The idiot did to save me. They took him right in front of me.”

He took a shuddering breath, then looked away.

“I tried to get him out.” He whispered, sadness dripping from his voice. “I was captured by the king. Before he shot me and threw me in a ditch to die, he made me see Charles’ dead body, who was killed by Stark after refusing to cooperate with him.”

Dread and pain filled Charles as he stared at the pained man in front of him. Heart breaking at the tragedy he suffered through. He couldn’t imagine the amount of pain that man went through to become like this.

“To them, I have been dead for years.” AU Erik straightened suddenly. His face was back to its coldness and ruthlessness so fast, that Charles thought he imagined the last few minutes. “In a way, I did die that day. So, I am sorry about your family and friends. I am sorry about your world. But today, I have the chance to protect my people, my world. To not let his death, go in vain.” He eyed Charles coldly before turning to walk away.

“Erik, just please, wait-“ Charles tried again desperately, but was stopped by the harsh look sent his way by the eyes that always looked warmly at him. 

“My decision stands.” AU Erik said in a final tone, before walking away, leaving a helpless Charles behind.


	17. Chapter 17

Dean and Tony stood inside the small dungeon, where they tied Dark Steve in a chair with an unholy number of chains and a glowing collar around his neck, still unconscious.

Outside the cell, they could hear Natasha and Bucky talking with AU Hank, while AU Alex Summers was with them inside the cell, eyeing the both of them suspiciously, with a tinge of fear in his eyes. They tried their best to ignore his looks.

“Well, our situation just keeps getting worse.” Tony sighed tiredly, while pinching the bridge of his nose. “It seems like the universe insists we die by Nazis one way or another.”

“I am more confused on why the hell do I keep getting stranded with you?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him in frustration. “First in the forties, then on a hunt, then when our husbands were pulled into another world and now this. Seriously, what the hell? At least let me get stranded with Cas once in a while. Or Steve. Any kind of change.”

“Jeez, Dean, tone down the love, you will suffocate me with it.” The genius rolled his eyes at him with a shake of his head. “I don’t know, maybe the universe thinks it’s hilarious to strand us together in weird ass places. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. Just accept it and shut up.”

“Someone is grumpy.” Dean frowned as he looked over at Tony, frown deepening.

“Sorry.” The genius muttered, trailing his eyes towards the chained, unconscious soldier. “It’s just- I am more worried than usual. Our situation this time is not encouraging.”

“All our situations are usually not encouraging, to be honest.” The hunter shrugged, looking tired and almost on his limits. “Nothing new here.”

“Why are you calm? They are planning to take Cas’ heart. You were panicking twenty minutes ago.”

“I am tired of panicking.” He murmured, eyes sad and exhausted. “I am now hanging on the hope that maybe our friends back home managed to save Cas and took him to safety. Or maybe we will get back in time to do that, I don’t know. I am trying to stop panicking so much.” He turned to Tony desperately. “Do you think Charles will manage to convince AU Magnets?”

“I am not sure.” The genius chewed on his lower lip nervously. “That Magnets seemed to be a lot colder and harsher than our Magnets.”

“No wonder. He must have lost his Charles in a tragic way.” The hunter murmured, looking a little dazed. “I don’t really blame him for being in that state.”

“Hey, what are you two whispering about?” AU Summers called out harshly, eyeing them carefully.

“Relax, Plasma Boy, we are not plotting to kill everyone or something.” Dean rolled his eyes with a snort, not really in the mood to deal with this.

“Don’t call me-!”

He was cut off by Dark Steve, who gasped suddenly awake and jerked in his seat so hard that made all of them jump, startled.

“Fucking hell, he is awake!” Dean exclaimed, as he took a step back, dragging Tony with him.

“Hank! Get in here!” AU Alex shouted in panic, as they stared at the soldier who was still thrashing in his chair.

AU Hank, Natasha and Bucky rushed inside, while Tony was looking hard at the Dark Steve, studying his movements. Noticing his wide eyes, his shaking body and look of fear on his face.

“Wait, he is not trying to release himself to attack. He is panicking!” Tony exclaimed suddenly, as he moved to rush towards the thrashing soldier.

“What do you think yourself doing?” Dean shouted at him, pulling him back by the arm.

Dark Steve heard their shouts and his eyes flew to them, landing on Tony.

That managed to make the situation worse.

“No! no!” Dark Steve shouted in pure fear, his thrashing now included trying to get away with his chair as far away from Tony as possible.

“Hey, hey, calm down! No one will-“ Tony tried to calm him and took a step towards him, hand stretched out.

“Stay back! Don’t-don’t touch me! Stay back!” Apparently-Not-Dark-Anymore Steve screamed in pure fear and panic that froze both Tony and Dean in their places, as the soldier still tried to get away with his chair.

“So, I guess he can talk after all.” Tony murmured weakly; eyes trained on the version of the love of his life, that apparently fears him like he was the devil himself.

“Calm down! You will hurt yourself!” Dean yelled as he marched towards the thrashing soldier.

“You!” he gasped, his face getting more and more panicked by the second. “Y-you. No, no, no.” he hunched in himself, like he was trying to make himself smaller or maybe even disappear.

God, it was heartbreaking to see a version of Steve in this state.

“Move away! You both have the faces of the people who ruined his life and took everything from him. You will give him a heart attack.” Natasha exclaimed as she and Bucky rushed towards the panicking man. AU Hank and Alex were watching the whole scene, looking lost and unsure of what to do.

Dean took Tony’s arm, who had a heartbroken look on his face, and moved with him to stand behind Former Dark Steve, out of his sight.

“Hey, hey, you can calm down now. No one will hurt you anymore.” Bucky whispered calmly to the chained man, who was avoiding to look at anybody.

At the sound of Bucky’s voice, the soldier’s eyes shot up, wide in confusion as he trailed his eyes between Natasha and Bucky.

“B-Bucky?” Former Dark Steve murmured in a choked voice, eyes widening even more. “You-you are alive?”

Bucky exchanged a look with Natasha, then with Dean and Tony, who shrugged at him, not knowing what to do either in this situation.

“Kind of? I don’t know how to explain it.” Bucky chuckled nervously, heart hurting at the lost, confused look on the man’s face.

Seriously, this was unbearable to watch.

“How much do you remember?” Natasha asked carefully, eyeing the soldier.

The soldier’s eyes turned to meet hers, then back to Bucky and the two mutants watching the scene.

“Everything.” He murmured in a weak voice, head hanging towards his chest in exhaustion. Body hunched down on itself. “I remember everything.”

Dean looked at Tony, who had an unreadable look on his face, that made the hunter nervous.

“Tony?” he called out in concern.

The genius turned to Dean, his expression not changing.

“I am going to kill him.” He said, his voice filled with anger and disgust. “I am going to kill my bastard of a doppelganger.

***

“So, I am guessing your talk with Bitter Magnets didn’t go as you hoped?”

Clint raised an eyebrow at Charles, who he found pacing in a room while muttering under his breath in frustration.

The telepath turned to the archer and sighed in exhaustion.

“No, it did not.” Charles shook his head sadly and looked away, a guilty look on his face. “I am sorry. I failed everyone.”

“Come on now, man. You do nothing but help us all the time. Always trying to save our asses.” Clint gave him a small smile as he walked towards him to place a hand on his shoulder. “We will figure something out. Everyone in this team is a resourceful, strong and smart bastard. Don’t worry.”

“I really thought I will be able to talk him out of it.” Charles stared at the floor miserably, Clint could almost hear his heart breaking. “But he is too blinded by anger and grief, he is refusing to wait a second longer.”

“I might not completely understand it, but I can imagine it.” Clint shrugged with a sigh. “The guy lost his lover to those people. You of all people should understand how he feels.”

“I do. I really do. But this makes me think about my Erik.” Charles shook his head sadly as he leaned tiredly against the wall. He had been abusing his legs a lot lately, that it was starting to take its toll on him. “I don’t want Erik to become like this, if I never managed to come back to him. Just imaging that kills me.”

Clint just gave him a long silent look before sighing.

“I really wish I had someone back home that will fall apart, if I didn’t return to them.” The archer smiled bitterly, as he leaned on the wall too next to Charles. “I really didn’t realize what I am missing.”

“I thought you like being single.” Charles murmured, turning to him with a small frown.

“I thought that too. Spending my time making inappropriate comments on the unholy number of couples I am living with, was satisfying for a while. Sorry about them by the way.”

“You never made a comment about me and Erik, I think you were worried Erik might throw something sharp at you.” The telepath chuckled softly, looking down at the floor.

“Yeah, that’s true. You have to admit that Magnets got some scary looks when he wants to be terrifying.” Clint smiled a little then it turned into a small frown. “But then Nat is about to get married. It didn’t seem real until the wedding is actually here. I see how happy she is. The woman that once upon time, refused the idea of love and marriage, is actually happy she is about to get married. It kind of put things in perspective to me.”

He turned to look at Charles square in the eye.

“I want what you, Dean, Tony and Nat have. Hell, even what Bucky has, his fucking weird relationship with winged Sam. Maybe even what Thor and Bruce have, now that is a weird relationship, but endearing really. The point is, I am tired of being alone.”

Charles gave him a long look for a few seconds, then looked away.

“We will have to get home first so you can do that. Otherwise, we will spend the rest of our lives in this godforsaken world, away from everyone we ever loved. Destroying the relationships you just mentioned.” The telepath murmured with a sigh.

Clint looked positively horrified at the prospect.

“Charles, what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know, Clint. I honestly don’t know.”

***

“It’s my final decision, Raven, I am not going to change my mind.”

AU Erik said firmly, not bothering to look up from the map he was staring at on the table.

“So that’s it? We will let those poor bastards lose their one-way home ticket?” AU Logan said indignantly, trying to catch his eyes.

“It’s your commander’s orders, obey them.” The Metal Binder stated in a cold voice, still not looking up.

“If Charles was here, would you still make that same decision?” AU Raven asked firmly, looking directly at him.

That made AU Erik look up, only to give her a hard look.

“Charles is dead, Raven, he had been for years. Because of those bastards I am trying to stop from coming back to our world. Helping a version of him will not bring him back to us.” He snapped harshly, giving her a cold hard glare.

“I know he is gone, Erik. I know he is not coming back.” She murmured softly, but still stood her ground against his glare. “Maybe helping that version will ease some of that pain. Knowing a version of him is alive and happy maybe will be enough.”

“Why are you pushing this?” he demanded, his glare intensifying. “We have fought, bled and sacrificed for this war. And then these strangers show up and you are willing to throw everything away for them?” he stared at her indignantly. “The fate of the world is at stake.”

“So are the lives of their loved ones!” AU Raven snapped as she took a step closer to him. “Do you really want the tragedy that happened to us, repeat itself in an innocent world that had nothing to do with this?”

“So what? It is time for another world to deal with the horrors we dealt with all this time!” he snapped back, getting highly frustrated.

AU Raven was now right at his face, staring directly into his eyes.

“There is an Erik in that world, who is desperately waiting for his Charles to come back to him.” She whispered emphatically, successfully getting his attention. “And another Raven. Do you really want to live, knowing that you did to another version of you the same thing that happened to you? Taking away the only person who kept him sane? Do you want to create another bitter, angry version of you?”

AU Erik went silent as he stared at her silently, then trailed his eyes towards AU Logan, who was watching them carefully, then back at the shapeshifter.

He looked away from her and glanced down at the map in front of him, but his focus was obviously elsewhere now.

“You two are dismissed.” He ordered, no particular emotion in his voice. It made the other two mutants nervous.

“Erik-“ AU Raven called out carefully.

“Dismissed, Raven.” He cut her off firmly, giving her a long look that she didn’t understand.

She exchanged a look with AU Logan, before sighing with a nod and they both left the room.

After they left, he stood frozen for a few seconds, then pulled out a ring from his pocket, bringing it up close to his face.

A ring that had a little ‘N’ engraved on it, meant to mean ‘North’. His had a ‘S’ on it for ‘South’.

The ring he never got a chance to give Charles.

He knew Charles would have said yes. They could have built a life together. They could have built the school Charles always dreamed about.

But the world was cruel. It left him stranded. Alone. Wondering what would have happened if he didn’t get caught by the bastards. If he was more careful.

He placed the ring over the map, finally letting a tear slid down his face.

That other Erik did marry his Charles.

That other Erik, apparently, managed to make his Charles walk again. Or maybe didn’t even cost him his legs in the first place.

Can someone be envious towards himself? That sounded absurd, even to him.

He spent the next few minutes, staring down at the ring. Letting his mind wander. 


	18. Chapter 18

“You seem a lot calmer now.”

Tony pointed out soothingly, as he sat cross-legged on the floor of the dungeon floor next to Dean. Bucky and Natasha sat on the other side of them, while Clint and Charles sat away against a wall.

AU Steve was still chained on the chair, for his own safety more than anything else. They were now sure he was completely back to himself. The mind control was destroyed the moment Charles messed with his brain.

The soldier was finally calm enough to at least hold a proper conversation. He was still hunched on himself and avoiding everyone’s eyes, but at least after they explained the situation to him, he could now look at Tony and Dean without losing his shit.

That was as much progress as they could get.

“Yeah.” AU Steve murmured, looking at Tony from the corner of his eyes. “You really are not him, are you?”

“We might have the same face, but we are absolutely not the same person.” Tony grimaced in disdain, feeling raw hatred fill him at the thought of his doppelganger. “No one here will hurt you, Steve. You won’t have to go through that hell again.”

AU Steve turned a little towards him, still not meeting his eyes, but his eyes trailed over him carefully, pausing at the wedding ring in his finger for a second.

“What did they do to you?” Natasha murmured carefully, trying not to spook or trigger him in any way.

He flinched at her question and looked away. A look of agony marred his face. A look that should never be on that face.

No version of Steve should look like this.

“He-he found me in the ice.” He started in a frail, choked off voice, that they had to strain forward to listen to it properly. “He was the first person I laid eyes on in this era. A face that was marred with so much cruelty and hatred, that it scared me even then.” His eyes moved towards Tony, studying his face for a second.

“You have the same face, but you look nothing like him. How is that possible?” AU Steve murmured in wonder and confusion; his eyes trained on Tony’s face.

“Oh, this Tony is an asshole, but he will never be anything as close as that bastard in any lifetime.” Dean shrugged, like he was saying the most obvious thing ever.

Tony turned to look at him in surprise, not believing that Dean actually complemented him with minimum insults for once.

“Wow, Dean. I will start to think you actually like me.” Tony grinned cheekily at him, nudging his shoulder with his.

“I don’t like you. I tolerate your existence.” The hunter rolled his eyes at him with a slight pout on his face.

“Oh, you don’t like me. You _love_ me. I am the brother you always wished for. I am the peanut to your butter. The apple to your pie. The-“

“-the pain to my ass.” Dean glared at him, trying to shut him up.

“Oh, no, I will never get near your ass. It will be like incest or something. Disgusting.”

“Seriously, this will be the last time I will ever complement you.”

“So, you admit it was a compliment! You like-like me. Let’s ride hand in hand with our husbands to the sunset.”

“Guys.” They looked up at Natasha’s disapproving voice, to see her and Bucky raising an eyebrow at them. Charles was smiling softly, while Clint was pretending to throw up. “Not exactly the right time or place for your kindergarten quarrels.”

“He started it!”

“I did not! Shut up!”

The entire time, AU Steve was watching their exchange with wide, awed eyes. Like he couldn’t believe the contrast between those two and the ones who ruined his life.

He looked down at the floor, a tear slid down on his face as everything that he went through hit hard, draining him.

“Hey, ignore those two.” Natasha said softly, placing a hand on his knee. “Continue your story. What happened after he found you?”

“He, uh, he-“ his voice choked at that, looking firmly down at the floor, as he tried to say the next part. “He needed to break me enough to be able to control my mind. So he-he took-“ a shuddering breath as he apparently relived all that. “-took advantage of me. Several times. Repeatedly. Until I was a mere broken shell. The rest is history.” Another tear fell from his eyes as he clinched his teeth. “The worst part was that I was aware of everything I was doing while under the mind control, but I couldn’t do anything to stop my body from doing all those horrible things. I couldn’t do anything; I was too weak. Broken. Worthless.” 

A sob ripped out of his throat, as silence fell on the room. Everyone watched him with feelings of anger and sadness.

Even though this wasn’t their Steve, it was still painful to see him in this state.

Also, the fact that their own Steve might suffer the same fate, wasn’t exactly comforting to them at the moment.

“He will pay for this.” Dean said in a strong firm voice, making the soldier look up at him in surprise. “All of them. They will pay for everything they did to this world.”

AU Steve looked between him and Tony silently, looking conflicted and wiped out.

Charles stood up, while trying, and failing, to hide his wince at the pain in his legs and lower back at the constant effort he was making. He made his way towards the chained soldier and kneeled in front of him.

“Hello.” He greeted with a kind smile. “You probably don’t know me-“

“Charles Xavier.” AU Steve cut him off with a soft murmur, not exactly looking at him. “I was the one who dragged your version to him. I saw what he did to him and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”

“You are hardly to be blamed. You weren’t in control of your own mind and body.” Charles said kindly, his smile never faltered. “You should never blame yourself for anything from the moment you woke up in his era. You endured too much. No one will hurt you now. Not anymore.”

AU Steve was looking at him in awe the entire time. “You were the one who broke the mind control?”

“Yes. I can help you more, if you allow me.” Charles raised his hand towards AU Steve’s temples. “I know your mind is a jumbled mess at the moment. I can hear it. If you let me, I can try to clear things for you.”

The soldier’s eyes trailed from his face towards Tony and Dean, who were watching him with sad looks on their faces, then back to Charles.

“Do it. Please.”

Charles placed his fingers gently to AU Steve’s temples and closed his eyes.

As the seconds passed on, the soldier’s face relaxed more and more, his shoulders losing their tense posture slowly.

After five minutes, AU Steve’s head fell on his chest and seemed to be in deep sleep. Charles opened his eyes and looked over at Tony.

“He should be a little better when he wakes up.” He whispered softly.

“Thank you.” Tony gave him a grateful smile.

They finally noticed a presence by the doorway. They all turned to see AU Erik by the door, watching them with an unreadable expression. They weren’t sure how long he was there.

His eyes were trained on Charles, and before anyone could say anything, he turned away and started to leave.

“Gather in the meeting room in one minute.” He ordered firmly, before leaving them behind, confused.

***

“One hour.”

AU Erik announced firmly as he faced them all in the meeting room, a huge map was spread over a long table, where AU Raven and Logan were standing, watching their commander with soft looks in their eyes.

“I will give you one hour to open the gateway and get the hell out of our world.” The commander continued, giving them a mix between a firm and threatening look.

“Thank you.” Charles smiled gratefully at him, feeling hope shine inside him again. “You won’t regret this.”

“I know I will regret it. I already regret it.” He scoffed before turning away from them.

Dean and Tony grinned at each other, while the others shook their heads with soft smiles.

***

“Now, you referenced 100 guards. I assume most of them are around the perimeter?”

Dean asked seriously as they all gathered around the huge map, looking expectantly at AU Raven and Logan.

AU Erik was standing a few feet away, watching them with a deep scowl on his face.

“Correct.” The shapeshifter nodded in confirmation.

“Alright, so we fight through them outside. We access the main corridor. What is security like inside the hangar?”

“The entire facility is surrounded by vital and mutant dampeners like the collars they had around their prisoners.” AU Logan reported with a deep frown. “No one can get in without a specific badge that protects them from the effects. Otherwise, no powers can work in there, and normal humans will be drained within a few minutes.”

“Okay, we can’t take that hangar in this state.” Natasha stated with a frown.

“These satellites indicate a control room off the hangar.” Tony announced as he looked over the data in a tablet, he borrowed from AU Raven. “That must be where the dampener is.”

“We can’t take that control with our strength draining out of us, and we don’t exactly blend in here.” Clint announced with a frustrated sigh.

Dean stared at the map for a long minute, before exchanging a look with Tony.

“I think I know how to get in.” Dean announced firmly, meeting everyone’s eyes, then stopping on Tony. “But you have to talk to AU Steve about it.”

***

When the team dispersed to get ready, after Dean announced his plan, AU Raven approached the silent AU Erik carefully.

“I know, I know what you are thinking, but-“ She started, but he moved suddenly and got his face close to hers.

“If they don’t make it to through the gateway, I am not giving you anymore time.” He said in a cold, harsh voice, his eyes boring into hers. “I will blow that place to kingdom come.”

With that, he turned and left her with a pale look on her face.

***

Back in the Tower, things weren’t looking good for Castiel.

Dressed like a surgeon, Dark Tony approached him to check his progress. In another hospital bed, laid Dark Castiel, with Dark Dean standing next to him.

With both Castiels dressed in a hospital gowns, it was almost hard to distinguish both of them from each other.

“Red light saturation is complete.” Dark Tony announced after checking Castiel’s vitals and statues. He looked up at Dark Dean with a smirk. “He is cooked.”

Castiel breathed heavily, trailing his eyes between them with too much effort. Feeling the weakest he had ever been in his entire life.

“You will wake up stronger than you have ever been.” Dark Dean said confidently, looking down at his dark angel.

“See you soon then.” Dark Castiel nodded at him with a small smirk.

Dark Dean placed a kiss to his forehead, before placing an oxygen mask over his face and the dark angel went under almost immediately.

“Unfortunately, for you, we need you awake for this procedure.” Dark Tony mocked as he pulled open the angel’s gown, revealing his chest.

“My-my family. They will find you.” Castiel let out weakly, as he looked defiantly at the man. “They will-will make you pay for this.”

“Your family, you say?” Dark Tony let out a mocking chuckle, grabbing a medical saw from the table. “The family we are holding like rats in the cells? Or the ones we executed in our own world? Face it, angel.” He turned on the saw, which let out a loud whirring sound. “No one is coming for you.” 

***

“They are starting the surgery!”

Raven announced in panic as she turned to Charlie, with wide eyes.

They were in the computer room, which was thankfully a hidden room in the tower. Tony made sure of that when he built it.

They were watching what was happening to Castiel on one of the screens, while Charlie was working frantically on a holoscreen,

“I am working on it!” Charlie bit her lip, as she continued to work twice as fast.

***

The saw continued to whir loudly, as Dark Tony approached Castiel with a sadistic smile on his face.

Castiel watched helplessly as the genius leaned over him with the saw, inching it towards his chest.

Then suddenly, the electricity powered down, leaving the room in complete darkness, except for the red light that still shines over the two angels.


	19. Chapter 19

“So, you want me to go back there.”

AU Steve murmured, he wasn’t really asking, he was just stating what Tony tried to avoid saying plainly.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Tony winced, guilt eating him from the inside at the hollow look on the chained man’s face. “It’s the only way for us to get inside and be able to go back home. But no one will force you to do anything, Steve. You are free to make whatever choice you want. If you want to not do this, no one will blame you.”

The soldier didn’t answer for a few tense seconds, as he stared at the floor intently.

When Tony was about to lose hope, AU Steve looked up at him with a determined look on his face that, for a second, he looked almost exactly like his own Steve.

“I will help you.” He said firmly, but Tony could detect the slight tremor in his voice at the thought of going back there.

“Are you sure about this?” Tony raised an eyebrow at the chained man.

“No.” AU Steve sighed, but kept his gaze at Tony. “But I can’t let another world suffer by them. You gave me back myself. This is the least I could do.” A faint smile appeared on his face then. “Besides, I have an extra badge with me. It will be a shame to not use it.”

Tony eyed him for a second, unable to withheld the soft smile that took over his face.

“Every version of you is a sweet dumbass.” Tony chuckled as he shook his head, trying to hide how his heart banged at the thought of his husband, suffering back home.

“Wait, am I something to you in your world?” AU Steve asked with genuinely surprised look on his face, like he couldn’t believe a version of Tony would care about him.

“Yeah, actually, you are probably the most important person in my life back home.” He raised his left hand to show him the wedding ring with a gentle smile on his face.

AU Steve’s eyes widened as he looked at the ring in pure shock, then back at Tony’s face.

“Really?” he whispered in disbelieve.

“Yeah, really.” Tony confirmed patiently, feeling his sadness for the other man increase.

AU Steve looked down at the floor, a sad smile on his face.

“Well, I am glad he didn’t suffer the same fate.” He murmured softly, looking back at Tony with the same sad smile. “I am glad he has you.”

***

Alarms were blaring from the moment the power went out in the entire tower.

Rage itched itself on Dark Tony’s face as he reached towards the tablet to check the tower’s statues.

“I can only get the backup power and it is not enough.” He announced in frustration, turning to Dark Dean, who was getting equally frustrated at him at the delay.

“Everyone in the building has been accounted for.” Dark Dean stated with a deep frown. “Where might more people be hiding?”

A deep frown appeared on Dark Tony’s face, as he remembered something in the Tower’s blueprints when he checked them.

“There was a hidden computer room or something in the floor over us.” He announced as he turned to his king. “They may be in there.”

“Lead the way.” Dark Dean nodded at him, then turned to two soldiers next to him. “You two stay here. Keep an eye on both angels.”

***

After they left, the two soldiers stood in the dark room.

Castiel was tense in his restrains, feeling something about to happen in any second.

He wasn’t wrong.

A vent opened in the ceiling, from it, jumped Raven and Charlie to land right in front of the two soldiers, and hit them with the shotguns in their hands.

The two soldiers, taken by surprise from their sudden appearance, didn’t have a second to react.

“Take that, you Nazi motherfucker!” Charlie exclaimed with a smile, before rushing with Raven towards the weakly struggling Castiel. “Hey, come with me if you want to live!”

“How long have you been waiting to say that?” Castiel murmured weakly, as he gave the red head a smile.

“Probably my entire life.” Charlie grinned at him, as she and Raven started to release his bindings.

“Come on, Cas, we will get you out of here.” Raven promised, while helping him up.

He was too weak to walk on his own, so each girl took an arm and wrapped them around their shoulders. Supporting him as they all rushed out of the room to the corridor.

They walked as fast as they could, while trying to hold up Castiel’s weight.

“You are heavier than I thought.” Raven murmured as they rushed towards the elevator at the end of the corridor. They could hear the sound of heavy feet rushing behind them.

“I am sorry. Dean had been feeding me a lot lately.” The angel murmured; eyes half open as he struggled to keep himself upright.

“That and you have been working out. You are so buff, it’s awesome.” Charlie grinned at him as she adjusted the hand on his chest to support him more. “Nice and hard.”

“Thank you.” He gave her a tired smile, just as they reached the elevator’s doors.

“We need to hurry.” Raven said frantically, as she heard the sounds coming closer.

“I got it. I got it.” Charlie reassured as she kept pressing the elevator’s button persistently.

When the doors opened, the relieved looks on their faces were wiped away at the sight that met them.

Castiel, immediately, pushed the two girls away from him, just as a beam of energy hit him right in the chest, sending him flying to hit the wall hard, then fall to the floor with a thud.

“Cas!” Charlie screamed in panic, while Raven stared with wide eyes, as Ultron got out of the elevator after shooting Castiel.

“I don’t believe that Master Stark is done with you yet.” Ultron said mockingly, as he turned to sneer at Charlie, who took a step back with panic in her eyes.

Meanwhile, a group of black soldiers came from down the corridor, making their way towards the angel and the two women.

***

A military car approached the entrance of the facility, where a group of soldiers were standing, armed, and staring suspiciously as the car stopped in front of them.

“Your papers.” The captain of the soldiers ordered as he approached the car, with his gun ready.

AU Steve, who was driving the car, turned to him with a cold look in his red eyes.

He was thankful he found eye lenses back at the hideout, or he could have been found out easily, if he showed up with his blue eyes back to normal.

He stayed silent, maintaining the act of being his mind-controlled self.

“Your papers, Captain, now.” The soldier ordered again, even more firmly.

AU Steve just nodded towards the backseat, where the glass rolled down, revealing Dean, dressed in complete black, with a cold, dead look on his face.

“My king! My apologies, your majesty!” all the soldiers tensed and bowed in deep respect. Frightened at the sight of their ruler.

“As you were.” Dean said icily, as he eyed the soldier.

“Let them through!” the soldier ordered, turning to the other soldiers.

Dean hid his smile as the gate was buzzed open to let their car through.

Dean and AU Steve were successfully inside the facility.

***

“Hail to our king!”

Every soldier in the room shouted, while saluting, the moment Dean and AU Steve stepped into the controlling room.

Dean saluted back, maintaining the same cold look on his face.

It was hard keeping that face all the time.

After the salute, he started to make his way into the room, with AU Steve a constant presence by his side.

“My king!” Dark Bobby’s voice rang in surprise as he rushed towards Dean, a perplexed look on his face, with a very obvious burn on the side of his face. Probably because of AU Erik’s attack. It made him look even more bitter. “We were not expecting you, your majesty.”

“Nor was I anticipating being back so soon.” Dean said in the coldest, most cruel voice he could manage, as he eyed the man with piercing eyes. “Thanks to your incompetence, the doppelgangers, _My doppelganger_ , escaped his execution.”

“Yes, he did.” Dark Bobby stated, as he met Dean’s eyes just as piercingly.

“And?”

“We are exhausting every possible means to locate them.”

“Good.”

Dark Bobby trailed his eyes over Dean’s face, then towards AU Steve’s face, who remained unchanged.

“Would you like us to delay deployment until we do so, your majesty?” Dark Bobby asked carefully, eyeing Dean intently.

“Deployment?” Dean let out before he could help himself, confusion filling him as he exchanged a quick look with AU Steve, who looked equally confused, but was hiding it well.

“She is inbound and ready.” Dark Bobby grinned mysteriously, as he gestured towards a screen.

Dean turned towards the screen, which showed the hangar, where the closed gateway was, along with a very large battleship, that looked suspiciously like Tony’s Time ship, that he built back home, but was larger and far more armed with hundreds of weapons.

“The doomsday device.” Dean muttered with a frown as he eyed the large vessel, AU Steve looked like it was the first time he laid eyes on it as well.

Apparently, Dark Tony didn’t tell him everything.

“The Wellenreiter is fully operational. Completely done being powered by our resident battery.” Dark Bobby reported proudly. Dean’s brows furrowed more at that. Resident Battery?

“It is ready, my king.” The man turned to him expectantly. “Shall we send her through?”

Dean was in a tight spot here. If he banned that ship from going to their world, they will definitely know he wasn’t really their king and their chance of going home will be snatched from them.

He had no other choice. 

“As scheduled.” He ordered firmly, keeping his eyes straight on the screen.

“Begin.” Dark Bobby ordered, turning to the soldiers in the room.

Immediately, the gateway opened, revealing a cylinder, huge amount of energy, that was so strong it shook the room. Obviously, this was their gate to their world.

The huge battleship started to move towards the gate, until it disappeared into it.

“The Wellenreiter is on its way.” Dark Bobby announced with a vicious smile on his face. “Hail, victory!”

“Hail victory!” every soldier in the room shouted back.

Dean exchanged a look with AU Steve, then back to the screen.

“Hail, victory.” He murmured begrudgingly along with the soldiers.

***

Back in the tower, Dark Tony was tapping into his tablet, while eyeing Raven and Charlie, who were being held by two soldiers.

The tower was still pitch black inside and out.

“Report.” Dark Dean ordered as he entered the room, making his way to the genius.

“Good news. The Wellenreiter has made the transition to this world.” Dark Tony reported proudly as he looked at the king.

“Castiel is the one who matters right now.” The king stated firmly, waiting to hear news on the angel.

“That red light we are flooding him with, it’s burning off.” Dark Tony frowned at that. “So pretty soon, his cells will be desaturated, we cannot perform the surgery.”

“Fix it.” The king ordered impatiently.

“I can’t.”

“This is your tower. Your brain. So, turn the power back on.”

“I can’t, because the system has been encrypted.” Dark Tony met Dark Dean’s eyes coldly. “It will take me a long time to undo it. Time, we don’t have.”

“Who encrypted it?”

“Well, by miss Bradbury, of course.”

They both turned towards the red head, who now had a very pale face and an increasingly nervous girlfriend a few feet away from here.

Both harshly restrained.

***

Dean was walking around the control room, looking around as discreetly as he could, under the careful eyes of Dark Bobby, who never took his eyes off of him.

He walked over to AU Steve, who gave him a subtle nod towards a specific device in the middle of all the controllers.

Dean immediately understood that it was the dampener. If he pressed a certain button in it, it will let his team inside the facility, fully powered and with all their strength.

He took a step towards the device, but then stopped at a voice behind him.

“Is there anything else I could help you with, my king?” Dark Bobby’s voice sounded behind him. Dean felt there was a sarcastic tone in it, but he wasn’t sure.

“No, that’ll be all.” Dean dismissed him. His voice as emotionless as his face.

“Very well.” Dark Bobby nodded and turned to leave.

Dean was about to sigh in relief, but it was short lived.

“Before I go, I have something for you, my king.” There was a smirk on the man’s face that made Dean a little nervous. From the corner of his eyes, he could see AU Steve tense as well. “A gift. To celebrate your return.”

Dean nodded at Dark Bobby to proceed, feeling uneasy.

“Guard!” he called out firmly.

Immediately, a door opened, revealing two soldiers dragging a female prisoner.

A prisoner that Dean knew her face too well.

As they brought the woman and forced her to her knees with her face covered in tears, Dean’s own face paled.

It was Charlie’s doppelganger.

“Well, I know how much you enjoy executing rule breakers, This one broke many of them.” Dark Bobby gave him a sly grin. “We discovered that woman handing her rations to the work camp children. Strictly against camp rules, of course.” He pulled out a gun and handed it over to Dean, who had no choice but to take it.

AU Steve was getting more and more nervous by the second.

Dean’s eyes remained on AU Charlie’s tired, tear streaked face.

“Those children were starving.” She whispered weakly, looking down at the floor, her body shaking in fear.

Dark Bobby scoffs and turned to look expectantly at Dean, who took a step forward and raised the gun towards AU Charlie’s head. More tears slid down her face.

But he didn’t shoot.

“This must be hard.” Dark Bobby tsked in fake pity. “I heard your doppelganger considered a woman that looked exactly like her as a sister to him.

Dean stared at AU Charlie’s face for a long minute, gun raised towards her head.

Well, he could do a lot of things, but not this.

He turned and aimed the gun at Dark Bobby’s head and shoot.

But nothing happened. The gun clicked, but nothing came out.

The Dark old man let out a loud cruel laugh.

“Did you really think I would hand you a loaded weapon without verifying who you are?” he mocked, raising his voice in pure rage at the last syllable.

In less than two seconds, soldiers around them moved, raising their guns towards Dean. Ready to shoot.


	20. Chapter 20

Back at the Tower, when the power went out, it also did in the dungeons for only a split moment that took for it to snap into the emergency power source.

At that same moment, Erik managed to snap open the collar around his neck.

***

AU Steve threw his shield, managing to hit the closest group of soldiers, bringing him down.

Dark Bobby turned to him with wide shocked eyes, obviously, not expecting that.

Dean, taking advantage of his surprise, punched him hard in the face, sending him tumbling towards the floor, then jumped to grab the closest soldier, catching him off guard by grabbing his gun and used him as a human shield while he shot at the other soldiers.

For the next few minutes, it included AU Steve moving around in an inhuman speed, bringing down soldiers, while Dean shot at them mercilessly, still using the soldier hostage to keep the bullets raining on him from reaching him.

They both were really thankful there wasn’t many soldiers in the control room at the moment.

After Dean shot down the last soldier, the room went quiet. Only then did he notice that Dark Bobby was missing.

“Well, that went to hell very fast.” Dean commented, while panting from the effort.

“You really are nothing like the king.” AU Steve smiled at him a little. “If the roles were reversed, he would have shot the woman without blinking an eye to prove a point.”

“Oh, God, Charlie!” Dean remembered as he rushed to the red head, who cowered behind a device, trying to make herself into a tight ball while sobbing in panic. He crouched beside her. “Hey, hey! You are okay! You are okay!”

She flinched away and stared at him with big, wide panicked eyes.

He handed her the shotgun and looked intently into her eyes.

“Just take this and go.” He told her gently, watching her breaths evening out a little as she stared at him. “Go out. You will find a blue woman. Tell her to help you. She will take care of you.”

“Why are you doing this?” AU Charlie asked with a frown as she accepted the shotgun.

“I have my reasons, now go. Go!” he gave a gentle, but urging push and she scrambled to her feet and rushed out of the room without looking back.

When he stood up again, only to see AU Steve pressing a button in the dampener device and gave him a nod.

“Clear!” Dean said into the comms, to the rest of the team.

Almost immediately, Tony and Charles rushed into the room, since they both were hiding in the car Dean and AU Steve got in.

“How did it g-oh!” Tony stopped, as he looked at the fallen bodies around the room. “You two have been busy.”

“Guys, we have a problem.” AU Steve said grimly.

“What now?” he sighed as he walked over to him.

“The gateway controllers have been damaged in the fight.” He reported grimly.

“We can’t turn it on?” Tony asked in concern.

“We can’t turn it on from here, but there should be a manual override at the platform.”

“Alright.” Dean sighed tiredly at that. Nothing is ever easy. “We are gonna have to fight our way through.”

The entire time, Charles was silent, eyes trained on a specific thing on the other side of the room.

“Charles? Are you okay?” Tony asked in concern, noticing the telepath’s state.

Charles didn’t answer at first. He just took a step towards what he was staring at.

“Charles?” Dean tried this time, getting nervous.

The telepath turned to them with eyes that doesn’t really see them.

“There.” He murmured pointing at a large, horizontal, cylinder shaped device, with hundreds and hundreds of thick wires coming from it, on the other side of the room. “There. I couldn’t tell at first because of the dampener, but now I can hear it clearly.”

“What is it?” AU Steve asked in confusion, not understanding what’s happening.

“There is someone alive inside that thing.” Charles announced with a shaking voice, eyes slowly widening. “And I think I know who it is.”

***

“Charlie Bradbury.” Dark Dean growled dangerously, “Turn the power back on.”

“He said-“ Tony started as he stepped into his suit, then moved fast to grab Charlie by the throat, slamming her against the wall. “-Turn the power back on.”

“Charlie!” Raven screamed in panic, as she struggled against the soldier keeping her in place, the collar around her neck making her movements sluggish and uncoordinated.

“Sorry, Evil Tony, can I call you Evil Tony?” Charlie choked out nervously, struggling to take a breath in.

“I prefer Dark Stark. It has more rhythm in it don’t you think?” Dark Tony smirked at her, tightening his grip on her throat.

“Glad you didn’t lose your sense of humor when you went batshit crazy.” She let out a choked, nervous laugh, as she tried to find a way out of this.

“You are a funny one, aren’t you?” Dark Tony smirked as he brought his face closer to hers. “You think you are clever than you actually are. Yet, I never heard of you in our world. Then, I am sure no one will miss you here. I will just grill your blue girlfriend instead.”

With that, he let the repulsor in his suit glow slowly, ready to shoot her in the chest with all its power. Raven struggled harder, while Charlie’s eyes widened in panic.

“Goodbye, Miss Bradbury.” He gave her an obnoxious grin as the repulsor was about to go out at full power.

“Stop! Just stop!” Castiel’s voice rang into the room as he stumbled inside, making all eyes turn to him as he leaned heavily against the wall, panting after he broke free from the soldiers containing him. “You came here for me. So, just take me, please. Please, don’t hurt anyone else.”

Dark Tony didn’t lower his hand, it kept aiming at the ready at Charlie’s face, who closed her eyes and looked two seconds away from crying, while Raven struggled even more. Dark Dean just watched coldly.

“Give them the code.” Castiel urged Charlie gently, despite the situation.

“If I do, they will kill you.” Charlie murmured in a shaking voice; a tear managed to fall from her eye.

“It’s fine. Nobody is going to die because of me.” He panted tiredly, his grip slipping from the wall, but still remained standing. “Charlie, give them the code.”

Charlie let out a frustrated sob, before lowering her head in defeat.

“Latte, Ada, Jonas, 1-1-9-0-0.” She whispered in defeat, not raising her eyes from the floor.

“Latte? That’s cute.” Dark Tony snorted, before lowering his hand and shoving Charlie to the floor harshly, then walked away to grab the tablet.

The moment she hit the floor; she broke down in sobs. The soldier grabbing Raven, moved with her to grip Charlie’s arm and forced her to her feet. Raven took her hand gently, both staring at the floor, unable to look Castiel in the eye.

Dark Tony punched in the code on the tablet and the power immediately returned to the Tower.

The genius smirked triumphantly, Dark Dean just gave the soldier a nod and started to drag the two women away.

Before they were forced out of the room, their eyes met Castiel’s, who gave them a gentle smile, despite the obvious fear in his eyes.

***

“What the hell do you think is happening out there?”

Sam asked in frustration as the power came back. He figured since the power is back, the girls probably failed in saving Castiel.

That made the blood run cold in his veins.

“I don’t know. I hate that we don’t know what the hell is happening in our home anymore.” Steve punched the glass in frustration, ignoring the pain that shot through his arm at the hard hit.

“Don’t worry. We are about to find out.” Erik said with an overly confident smile on his face.

“How are you planning to do that from here, Daddy Shark? Are you going to fly out of your little glass cube?” Logan mocked with a roll of his eyes.

Erik turned to him, his smirk widened as his cell started to vibrate violently around him.

“Erik?” Steve called out carefully, as they all watched with wide eyes, as every metallic piece of the small cell, started to vibrate and fall to the floor.

Until the glass panels were the only thing remained standing for a short time, before crashing to the floor with no longer anything supporting it.

Erik stood there, free, with a shark like smile on his face.

“How?” Hank breathed with wide eyes, unable to believe what just happened. “The collars-“

“Oh this? I broke it.” He gripped the collar from around his neck and shattered it with his powers. “It took me a while, but I managed to detect a small flicker of metal in it. It was enough.”

“Can you get us out?” Steve asked urgently, looking hopefully at the metal binder.

“Stark is going to be so mad I destroyed his dungeon.” Erik grinned as all the cells started to vibrate violently around them. “It will be worth it.”

***

“What do you mean there is someone inside that thing?”

Dean exclaimed in confusion, watching Charles walking towards the weird cylinder in determination.

“I know what I am feeling, Dean. There is someone in there, alive and needs to be helped.” Charles insisted stubbornly, as he trailed his fingers carefully over the cylinder.

“We need to move. The rest of the team are fighting their way in. The army is gathering in the hangar to stop us. We don’t have much time.” AU Steve urged impatiently, looking around nervously. “Not to mention that what is going on here, might reach _him_ in your world.”

“Wait, what?” Dean looked at him in panic. “He can know what is happening here?”

“He has his ways, so we really don’t have much time.” The soldier tried desperately to get Charles’ attention, but it seemed hopeless.

“We need to get whoever inside out.” Charles insisted stubbornly, looking over at the silent Tony, who looked to be in deep thought. “Tony? You with me?”

Tony frowned as everyone turned to look at him expectantly, apparently, they decided to leave this decision to him.

“We should get whoever inside out. This place will explode in less than an hour. It’s not fair to let an innocent die like that, if we could help them.” Tony decided as he looked at them with determination.

Charles gave him a grateful look, while Dean looked incredulous.

“What if there is another evil version of one of us in there, that we will set loose?” Dean argued indignantly, as he watched Tony and Charles fiddle with the large machine to figure out how to open it. “There is no guarantee that there is an innocent inside.”

“Then we will just tie them up in a corner and let them explode along with the facility.” The genius just shrugged like it was no big deal and completely normal for him to say something like that.

Dean gaped at him for a second, then turned to AU Steve for help, who just sighed and walked towards the two shorter men.

“It will take less time if we helped.” AU Steve told Dean from over his shoulder. As he pulled at the casing of the cylinder to pull it off.

Tony and Charles gave him a surprised, but grateful looks.

“Fucking hell, fine!” Dean sighed in defeat and stepped up to help as well. “Whoever is inside, better be worth it.”

After maneuvering around the large, suspicious looking machine, as fast as they could without wasting too much time, they finally managed to crack it open, when they pushed at what seemed to be the lid as hard as they could.

Steam fell out of the opened machine, so thick it blinded them for a moment.

The four of them stepped back, coughing, waiting for the steam to clear out to get their vision back.

Finally, when the steam vanished, it became clear to them what is inside.

The machine turned out to be some kind of cryogenic pod, with hundreds of thick wires connected to the body inside. Those wires in return, travel through the entire facility and beyond.

In the pod itself, there was a body that seemed to be in deep sleep. The body had a very familiar face.

Familiar, because it looked exactly like one of the four men staring down at it.

“Oh, God.” Charles whispered shakily. He had suspected it when he first felt the person’s presence, but seeing it with his own eyes was still horrifying.

“I-I-What?” Dean stammered as he stared, dumfounded and shocked. “He-he actually did this to his-fucking hell.”

“I will kill that fucking monster.” Tony growled in pure rage, feeling his heart contract in both pain and anger.

Understandable, since the body being used like a battery inside the pod, was none other than AU Charles himself.

Who was presumed dead to all his loved ones years ago.

***

Meanwhile, In the hangar, it was like a beehive.

Every armed soldier in the facility was inside, gathering around the gateway, like their lives depended on it.

“No one gets to the gateway!” Dark Bobby shouted firmly to the soldiers, as he walked determinedly between them. “You will die before any of those idiots reach it!”

In the far corner of the wide place, stood a column, which held the lever that will open the gate manually. Surrounded heavily by armed soldiers.

***

The moment the pod opened in the Dark World, Dark Tony’s hand, which held a scalpel, froze right over Castiel’s chest, who was watching him with barley hidden fear and despair.

“Now, what?” Dark Dean barked harshly, when he noticed the genius’ hesitation.

Charlie and Raven, who were forced to watched the surgery, looked nervous.

Dark Tony’s frown deepened, as he seemed to be distracted from everything happening around him, before letting out a harsh chuckle.

“Looks like someone back home is playing with my toys.” He snarled in a cold voice, face hardening as he looked up at the king. “No one takes my stuff.”

At that moment, an explosion happened that destroyed half the room.


	21. Chapter 21

Dark Tony found himself being thrown across the room, to hit the wall and fell hard to the floor.

He looked up just in time to see the king turning in pure rage towards the source of the explosion.

Only to find himself staring at Erik and Steve, who were looking back at him with matching self-satisfied smirks on their faces.

“How did you get out of your cells?” Dark Dean demanded angrily, taking a careful step back.

“What? You thought we will sit on our asses, while you crack open our friend?” Steve raised an eyebrow at the man, as he looked at him defiantly.

“I don’t like it when someone tries to hurt my friends. There are already only few of them, it is very inconvenient.” Erik’s smirk got bigger, before suddenly throwing a huge device at the king, who was caught off guard by the sudden attack and got hit right in the face, while Steve threw his shield, knocking out the soldier keeping custody of Raven and Charlie, while Erik managed to bring down the rest of the soldiers before they had time to react.

Finally, when there was no one else standing in the room except them, the four of them rushed to Castiel.

“Cas! Hey! You alright?” Steve exclaimed frantically as he and Erik rushed to remove the restraints from around the too weak angel.

“Oh God, Cas, I am so sorry.” Charlie was apologizing over and over again, as her nerves were jumping all over the place.

Castiel’s unfocused eyes met Steve’s as he helped him up with Erik.

“Do you have any idea how happy I am to see you?” Castiel gave him a weak smile as he trailed his eyes between Steve and Erik, “Both of you are a sight for sour eyes.”

Steve chuckled as he gave Castiel a tight hug, while Erik just smiled in amusement and relief at the angel.

“Cas!” they all turned just in time, to see Sam’s huge frame rushing into the room frantically searching for the angel. “Oh God, Cas!”

The younger Winchester rushed towards Castiel, crushing him into a hug that made the other four in the room wince for Castiel’s sake. However, the angel just collapsed against Sam, as he finally felt like he was out of danger for now.

“I thought we were too late.” Sam murmured earnestly, as he pulled away to look the angel over in worry. “God, Cas, I thought we lost you.”

“Actually, if you were late for five seconds, I wouldn’t have been here right now.” Castiel murmured bluntly. Looks like his weakness and disorientation was making him even more blunt than usual.

“How is the situation?” Steve asked Sam seriously, as he looked over at him.

“Well, the rest of the team managed to bring down most of the soldiers in the Tower.” Sam reported, but there was slight hesitation in his voice.

“But?” Erik prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“They ran into Ultron in the pent house. They are engaging him now, but I needed to see if Cas was alright.” Sam murmured, looking like he was feeling guilty for leaving the others to deal with the murder robot, even though they all urged him to go.

“Fuck, they need our help.” Steve muttered with a deep frown.

“You owe your jar a dollar.” Erik and Castiel pointed out helpfully at the same time, earning a narrowed eyed look from Steve and a snort from the two women.

“Anyway,” Steve rolled his eyes at his friends, but could not admit that he deserved that one. “Erik and I will go to help the others. The rest of you, get Castiel as far away from here as possible. Got it?”

They nodded back at him, and with one last pat to Castiel’s shoulder from both men, Erik and Steve rushed their way out, leaving the rest to Sam and the two women.

***

Dark Dean woke up with a start, sitting upright as he ignored the raging pain in his head, growling in anger when his eyes landed on the empty hospital bed where Castiel was.

He got to his feet and moved towards the still drugged Dark Castiel, removing the mask from his face as he leaned towards him.

“We have a problem.” He whispered as he laid a hand against the dark angel’s cheek. “I need you to wake up, Castiel.”

He heard a ruckus and a curse from behind him, he looked over to see Dark Tony standing up from the floor, brushing his clothes in frustration.

“The general is no longer safe here and things are getting out of control back home.” The genius exclaimed in frustration.

“I am well aware.” Dark Dean said with a deep frown, turning to him fully. “Return home. Deal with whatever happening there as fast as possible, then come back to the carrier and prepare for the invasion.”

“Without you?” Dark Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

“I am staying.” The king hissed firmly; anger visible in every word. “Their Castiel is not leaving here alive.”

“Do not make it personal. It is not a good idea.” The genius argued in frustration.

“Says the man who got nervous when someone played with his toys back home.”

“That’s different! You know how important those toys are! Meanwhile, you are-“

“Are you questioning your king’s orders?” Came Dark Castiel’s firm voice from the hospital bed, making the two men turn to him.

“Of course not, general.” Dark Tony muttered, he gave Dark Dean one last look, before leaving the room to do his orders.

Dark Dean came closer to the dark angel, taking his hand gently.

“Stay here. Stay safe.” He murmured as he looked down at him. “And I will be back for you with his heart.”

***

In the dark world, just as they were about to get ready to get AU Charles out from inside the pod, they heard the sound of fighting from outside getting closer.

The door was pulled open, revealing Natasha, Clint and Bucky, as they rushed into the room with their guns.

“What took you guys so long?” Natasha shouted in frustration the moment she saw them. “AU Raven and Logan are still outside, keeping the soldiers at bay, what was keeping you guys from-“

“Oh crap! Why is there two Charles?” Clint exclaimed suddenly, when he noticed that Charles and Tony were trying to pull out another Charles from a weird looking cylinder.

“Wait, wait! Is that-“ Bucky started to question but was cut off.

“Yeah, yeah, this is this world’s Charles Xavier, he had been kept inside this pod as a battery, all this time we were trying to get him out.” Dean summarized as fast as he could, while taking a gun from a stunned Natasha.

“AU X-Men needs to know about this before their Erik explode this place!” Clint stated frantically as he eyed the unconscious telepath.

AU Steve let out a harsh gasp suddenly, then collapsed to his knees while gripping his head with wide panicked eyes.

“Steve?!” Tony exclaimed nervously, even though this wasn’t his Steve, his heart panged at seeing him in pain. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“He is coming.” AU Steve hissed in an utterly panicked voice, looking like he was trying desperately to curl into a tight ball. “Oh God, he is coming.”

“Who is coming?” Dean asked in worry, noticing how Charles’ face paled as well, probably hearing what’s happening in AU Steve’s mind. “Come on, man, tell us!”

“The gateway. It’s opening.” This came from AU Raven, who just got into the room at that moment, looking at the screen that showed what was happening in the hangar.

“Opening? Who opened it and why?” Tony asked in confusion.

“Someone is coming from the other side.” Charles whispered with a very pale face. “The last person we want here.”

At that moment, the gateway opened for exactly three seconds, which was enough for one man to step from it firmly.

Charles was right, this was the last person they want to be here at the moment.

Because it was Dark Tony himself, fully suited in his armor, looking as cruel as ever.

***

“Sir! We did not expect you to be here!”

Dark Bobby exclaimed in both nervousness and panic as he saw Dark Tony step out of the gateway.

The genius turned to look at him coldly, every inch of his face was tense in pent up anger.

“Well, I had to come here in person, since you are screwing everything up here!” He practically growled at the older man’s face, who took a careful step back.

“Everything is under control, sir. We are not letting those people come near the gateway.” Dark Bobby said as firmly as he could, he always freaked out around the genius, who was always unpredictable and violent.

“Oh, you mean the ones who you were supposed to execute?” Dark Tony asked in a too sweet voice, as he took a step towards the other man. “The group of the most dangerous, resourceful people of that other world?”

He suddenly grabbed Dark Bobby by the neck in an unrelenting grip, ignoring the choked off sounds he was letting out as he shouted: “You idiot! You let loose a version of me and the king, along with a genius telepath, two deadly spies and a former Winter soldier! Do you have any idea what kind of deep shit we are in?!”

Dark Bobby tried to say something, but his voice couldn’t get through the tight grip around his throat.

“What? There is more?” The genius released him, as he eyed him suspiciously.

Dark Bobby panted harshly as he avoided looking at the genius.

“They-they managed to get the Captain to their side as well, sir.” He muttered quietly, feeling fear spreading through him.

Dark Tony eyes widened, as his face changed into a perfect picture of pure rage.

“What?” he thundered, making every soldier in the room flinch, as his voice cut through the air like a whip. “You let them take him?! So, they took him _and_ they are fiddling with my battery?! Do you have any idea what you did?! This could ruin everything! You idiot!”

“Sir, I-“ Dark Bobby never got the chance to finish the sentence, in the next second, Dark Tony blasted him in the chest with full, burning power, throwing him across the room, until he landed on the floor with a gaping hole in his chest.

The soldiers jumped at the sight of their commander’s dead body, as Dark Tony turned to them sharply.

“I will lead this attack.” He snapped firmly, getting the soldiers’ attention perfectly. “No one of them gets out of here alive, or the cost will be _your_ lives!” 

***

“Erik, we need more time!”

AU Logan shouted frantically through the comms to his commander, after AU Raven told him of the dark genius’ untimely appearance.

They both still have no idea of AU Charles’ appearance, both got busy at the sight of Dark Tony to notice anything else.

He was by the car AU Steve and Dean used to get inside the facility, trying to avoid the bullets raining down at him as he made his call.

“I already told you. I am not giving them any more time.” Came AU Erik’s firm voice, obviously not willing o negotiate.

“Things got complicated over here! It took us a little longer to get inside, and they didn’t even reach the hangar yet! There is a whole army there, and they could only open the gateway manually. We only have less than thirty minutes left, we need more time.” AU Logan argued frantically, getting more desperate.

“Logan, I am not wasting any more time! I was against this mission from the star-“

“Erik, Stark is here.” AU Logan cut him off with a careful voice.

“Yes, I know there is a Stark with them, why is this any news for me?”

“No, Erik. Our Stark is here. He is inside the facility guarding the gateway right now. He came back from the other world.”

There was an abnormal, long pause this time, so long that AU Logan started to get nervous.

“The facility will explode in less than five minutes.” Came AU Erik’s cold voice, making AU Logan’s body freeze in panic.

“What do you mean? What did you do?!” he exclaimed frantically.

“I sent a missile. It will be there in four minutes. Get out of there.”

“Call it back! You said we will have an hour! It isn’t a full hour yet!”

“I changed my mind.”

“The team hasn’t gone through the breach yet!”

“That team has nothing to do with us or saving our world!” AU Erik suddenly screamed in pure rage in AU Logan’s ears, making the mutant flinch. “Everyone who can threaten us is on the other side of that breach! One of them is there right now and he needs to die, before the others come back through!”

“Commander-“

“Logan, enough!” AU Erik growled, his rage and hatred leaking into his voice. “I don’t care how many Starks will die in that explosion. Tony Stark needs to die! Either you and Raven get out of there, or you will die along with them. I am not wasting anymore time; I am blowing it up!”

With that, the call ended, leaving AU Logan pale and terrified, not knowing what to do.

In the next second, he was running towards the facility, letting the bullets pierce through him, ignoring the pain as he shouted through the comms.

“Guys, we have a problem!”


	22. Chapter 22

“Okay, we seriously need to head out, like right now!”

Dean clutched his gun tightly, he was tense the moment they saw on the screen Dark Tony killing Dark Bobby. “That guy obviously in a very bad mood and won’t hesitate to kill us all. We only have less than thirty minutes left, before Pain-in-the-ass Erik will blow up this place, without caring if we made it out or not!”

“I know! Dean, I know!” Tony exclaimed in frustration as he looked up from what he was doing. “I am working as fast as I could here!”

“What is the problem exactly?” Bucky asked with a frown, trying to follow the conversation.

“We want to get that Charles out, but we are worried if we removed the wrong wires from him, it might kill him in the process.” Charles explained as patiently as he could in the middle of all of this. “We don’t know what they are using him for, so we need to be cautious here.”

“I think I know what they are doing with him.” Natasha muttered with a frown, making everyone look at her in surprise.

“How do you know?” Clint wondered in confusion.

“Think about it, it is pretty obvious.” She sighed nervously as she tried to explain. “Back home, when Tony created Ultron, he used the Mind Stone, right?”

“Thank you for mentioning that, but yeah it’s true.” Tony confirmed in frustration, as he eyed her with a raised eyebrow.

“That Mind Stone you got from Loki’s staff. In this world, there is no Thor. No Loki. No Avengers. No Chitauri invasion. Then how the hell did that other Tony created Ultron without the Mind Stone?”

“He used the second-best close thing to it.” Dean murmured in realization as they all turned towards Charles, who had a deep frown on his face.

“Fuck, so you are saying that my fucker of a doppelganger used this world’s Charles’ powers against his will, to create a version of Ultron that is less chaotic than the one I created with the Mind Stone.” Tony concluded with a pale face as he took the realization in.

“That’s what I think, yeah.” Natasha shrugged, looking like she hates that discovery, no matter how true it was.

“Fucking hell, that guy is a soulless bastard.” Tony breathed out with a shake of his head, eyeing AU Steve who was standing in a corner looking pale and sick the moment Dark Tony made his appearance.

“So, if we removed my doppelganger from this pod, Ultron might go offline?” Charles wondered, as he checked over the hundreds of wires connected to the pod.

That made them stop a little, since they didn’t think about that possibility.

“It’s worth a try.” Tony decided as he launched at the wires with more focus than before. “This will make things much easier back home.”

“Guys! Guys, we have a problem!” AU Raven and Logan crashed into the room and rushed towards them, while panting harshly.

“What now?” Dean muttered as he turned to them with a nervous frown.

“The moment Erik knew that our Stark is here, he sent a missile that will be here in less than four minutes!” AU Raven exclaimed frantically, looking panicked.

“What? We are supposed to have thirty more minutes!” Bucky’s eyes widened as everyone tensed and started to panic.

“Well, he really, really wants Stark dead so he ignored his own words and attacked.” AU Logan sighed in frustration.

“Fuck! Why did I have to be a fucking bastard in this world?!” Tony yelled in frustration.

“Can we stop the missile?” Natasha questioned urgently, looking at AU Raven.

“No, it is controlled by his powers. The only one who can stop it, is Erik himself, and I don’t think he will do it. So, we need to get out of here, now!” she made a move to grab at Natasha, but Charles stepped forward to grip her arm instead.

“If he knew what we found here, he will stop the attack.” He said confidently, as he dragged AU Raven towards the pod.

“What are you talking about? Charles, you need to get out of here! Not waste more-“ the words choked in her throat, the moment she laid eyes on the figure laying inside the pod. “Oh my God.”

“What?” AU Logan rushed to see what made her freeze like that, only to stop and stare in return when he saw it too.

“Charles.” AU Raven murmured in disbelieve and shock, a tear sliding down her face. “What did they do to you?”

“Erik. I need to call Erik, before he makes the biggest mistake in his life!” AU Logan exclaimed as he rushed out of the room to go back to the car and call his commander.

“Meanwhile, as Logan, hopefully, manages to convince Erik, we need to get moving to open the gateway.” Dean said firmly, facing his friends.

“How? There is an army out there and an evil Iron Man.” Clint frowned nervously.

“We will attack head on and push our way through. That’s the only way.” He turned then to Tony and Charles. “You two try to get this Charles out as fast as you could, until we open the gateway, then you leave him with Logan and join us, you get it?”

“Yeah, yeah, we got it.” Tony nodded at him, while Charles gave him a quick smile.

“I will stay with them.” AU Steve murmured, finally getting out of his trance as he turned towards them with a determined look, despite his pale face. “I will make sure they join you as soon as possible.”

“Good, that’s good. Thank you.” Dean nodded at him gratefully, before facing the rest of the team, AU Raven just kept standing silently, eyeing her Charles like she completely forgot everything around her. “Everyone with me? Let’s fight our way home.”

***

In the pent house, things weren’t going well.

Ultron stood in the middle of the room, firing relentlessly at the team, while laughing manically and expertly avoiding their attacks.

“Dammit, he is as annoying as our version.” Steve muttered, as he and Erik ducked behind the kitchen counter to avoid Ultron’s relentless attacks.

“Isn’t he made of metal? Why don’t you crush it?” Logan asked in frustration, when he was thrown harshly to the floor next to them.

Meanwhile, Wilson and Rhodey were shooting at the robot, who laughed harder as he shoots a beam of energy from his chest that made them duck fast behind a thrown off couch, while Thor screamed bloody murder as he charged towards the robot with his hammer.

“He is not made of any magnetic metal that I could manipulate; don’t you think I would have done it if I could?” Erik snapped in frustration, as he and Logan proceeded to glare at each other.

“God, I wish Tony is here.” Steve groaned as he closed his eyes in pain, when Thor was gripped by the throat and then thrown to crash against the windows, thankfully not falling from it as he gripped the frame at the last second.

“Do you actually think they are still alive out there?” Erik questioned, half bitterly, half hopefully.

“Seriously? Erik, they are the most stubborn, most reckless people in the entire world. They are not that easy to kill.” Steve answered firmly, trying to reassure himself along with Erik. “They will find their way back to us any moment now.”

Meanwhile, Ultron was coming towards the kitchen, where they were hiding, with a grin on his robotic face.

***

“Hold the hangar! Don’t let them open the gateway manually!”

Dark Tony was screaming at his soldiers, getting frustrated the longer it took the heroes to attack.

What the hell are they planning? What is taking them so long to make a move?

All was important at the moment, was to stop them from leaving and for him to go the control room.

He needed to make sure that the battery was still intact.

He was about to make a move towards the door that will lead him to the mentioned room, when it suddenly exploded, making every soldier that was close to it get thrown harshly throw the room.

From the exploded door, came Dean, Natasha, Bucky and Clint, shooting relentlessly with their guns at the soldiers, as they made their way forcefully through the hangar.

“What the hell are you waiting for? Shoot them back!” he yelled in pure anger at the sudden attack, he was about to move, when he noticed one of his soldiers making his way discreetly towards the lever that will open the gateway.

He knew exactly who that was.

***

“Fucking hell, Erik, just answer!” AU Logan shouted in frustration, when he kept calling the commander without any use. “I am trying to stop you from making a huge mistake, you stubborn idiot!”

From afar, he could see the missile approaching fast, making him more desperate by each passing second, as the commander kept ignoring his calls.

“Dammit, Erik!”

***

Dean ducked behind craters and huge vehicles as he kept shooting at the soldiers, who in return rained their own bullets on him.

“This is taking longer than it should.” Natasha yelled over at him, as he ducked with her behind a rather large crater.

“The army is larger than I planned.” He shouted back over the shooting; frustration evident in his voice. “And they are shooting with intent to kill. Raven is our only hope in getting closer to that damned lever at the moment.” 

***

AU Raven, taking the form of one of the soldiers, used the chaos that was happening around her, to make her way fast towards the lever.

She was almost there, just a few feet away. No one was stopping her. No one was paying her any attention.

When she was about to touch the lever, a metal hand wrapped around her throat suddenly, raising her from the floor.

She gasped and looked down, only to find herself face to face with a smirking Dark Tony Stark.

“Raven. Long time no see.” He greeted in a smug voice, eyeing her intensely. “To be honest, I thought you died along with Magnets.”

She froze, keeping her form firmly, not planning to back down.

“S-sir! Please, I-I don’t know who are you talking about!” she let out in her most scared voice, keeping the act that she was just another soldier. 

“Cut the crap.” He snapped harshly, tightening his metal fist around her throat, it was getting harder and harder to focus on keeping her form. “Do you think I don’t know how you walk? We used to be close, you know?” He grinned wickedly at her, making her almost throw up in revulsion. “Show your face, Raven, or I will snap your neck.”

He tightened his grip more harshly, and that’s when she completely lost control over her form.

Her blue skin made appearance. Effectively making his smug grin widen as he watched her.

“You are a survivor. I will give you that.” He grinned at her, bringing her face closer to his. “You know, in that other world, I saw a version of you. I felt nothing. Just like how I feel right now.”

With that, he threw her against the wall, which she hit hard before crashing to the floor. Motionless.

***

“Fuck.” Dean cursed loudly when he saw the scene, unable to move and stop it from happening. “Fucking fuck!”

“You are lucky Steve isn’t here. He would have made a fortune from your mouth alone.” Natasha muttered, even when she gritted her teeth in frustration. From afar, she could see Bucky and Clint, shooting frantically at the soldiers.

“If Steve was here, he would swore just as much.” Dean retorted without missing a beat, then turned to her. “We need to get to that lever ourselves.”

He saw her staring hard at something, before she turned to him with wide eyes.

“Dean, Dark Tony is nowhere to be seen. He was here less than a minute ago!”

***

Finally, what felt like forever, the commander answered.

“Are you out of there?” AU Erik said in a disinterested voice, probably expecting AU Logan to tell him that they did.

“No, and you fucking need to stop the missile right now!” AU Logan screamed frantically, eyeing the missile, which was a few seconds away from them now.

“Why would I do that? I gave you five minutes to leave. You didn’t. Not my problem.”

“Erik, you are about to make the biggest mistake in your life!”

“I am about to end this war! I am about to get my revenge on everyone that wronged us! For Charles!” AU Erik shouted in frustration.

“It’s Charles! Erik, it’s Charles!” AU Logan shouted desperately, unable to make a full sentence with a fucking missile about to hit them.

“Charles is dead, Logan! That’s why I need to-“

“He is not! Erik, he is alive! He was kept alive in that facility all this time! He is alive and you are about to kill him with your own hands right now!” he let out on one long shout, closing his eyes preparing for the explosion as three seconds were left.

He was met with silence. Silence so tangible that he could almost hear his commander’s brain explode.

In the next second, the missile flew to the dark sky instead of the facility, exploding with a deafening noise.

***

“Are you done?” AU Steve asked nervously, getting restless as he watched the two geniuses removing the last of the wires.

“Almost done.” Tony answered, keeping his full focus on the delicate work he was doing. “The next part is critical, we need to be careful, or it will all go to waste.”

“You are doing a great job, Tony.” Charles nodded encouragingly at him, helping him carefully. “You are about to do it.”

“No, he is not.”

A voice rang through the room, making the three of them freeze. AU Steve’s face got paler and paler as a terrified look took over his face. Tony and Charles looked up slowly towards the source of the voice.

Only to see Dark Tony approaching them with a cruel smirk on his face.

“Didn’t anyone tell you it is impolite to play with someone’s toys, while they are not home?”


	23. Chapter 23

“You.” Tony growled, as he turned to face his own doppelganger. Anger raging inside him. “You fucking bastard!”

“Well, hello to you too.” Dark Tony grinned wickedly at him, eyeing him up and down. “Can’t believe you are actually still alive. Maybe we are alike. We are both survivors.”

“We are nothing alike!” Tony shouted, like the mere concept was offending to him. “You despicable, piece of shit. How do you even sleep at night, after everything you did to the people who are supposed to be your family?!”

“I have no family.” Dark Tony scoffed as he started to march towards Tony, who stood stubbornly, hiding Charles’ body completely behind him. “Family just brings you down. You can’t tell me that you are at your full potential when you are with your _family_.” He snorted with a cruel smile. Saying the last word with sneer. “Where is your family anyway? Leaving you defenseless like this. They only care about going home to their lovebirds. They don’t care if you were with them or not.”

“Shut up! Don’t you dare to talk about my family!” Tony growled, gripping Charles’ arm tightly to keep him from making any move. God, he really wished for his suit right now.

“No one will save you. You will die right here and no one will care.” Dark Tony growled as he raised his palm towards Tony, ready to shoot him.

Before he could shoot, AU Steve stepped between him and Tony, holding up his shield in front of him, as he faced Dark Tony head on. Despite how pale he was, he had a determined look on his face.

“So, it’s true.” Dark Tony muttered as he eyed the soldier with furrowed brows, then trailed his eyes towards Charles. “You snapped my toy out from the mind control, didn’t you? And also found your own doppelganger and trying to disturb him? I was going to keep you alive to make another battery, but you need to die for this now.”

“You will not lay a hand on them.” AU Steve said in a hard voice, with a slight tremor in it.

Tony couldn’t blame him. The guy had every right to fear that crazy, unpredictable asshole.

“How cute. I hate to admit it, but I really did miss your voice when you aren’t screaming hoarse.” The Dark genius let out a cruel laugh as he turned back to the soldier. “You will stop me? Really? How do you think you will do that?”

“I will not let you hurt my friends.” AU Steve snapped sharply, taking a step to hide Tony and Charles completely behind him.

“Friends? I don’t remember allowing you to have friends.” Dark Tony growled, with a displeased frown. “Doll face, you are mine. You are not allowed to speak to anyone. You are not allowed to have anything in your life, if it is not me. So, cut the shit and go wait for me in my room, like the good sex doll you are.”

“No.” The soldier said in a strong voice, pulling himself to his full height.

“No?” the dark genius raised an eyebrow at him, as he looked at him in rising anger.

“No. You will not touch me again. You have no control over my life anymore.” AU Steve’s voice got stronger by each word he said, that Tony would have confused him with his own Steve at any other situation. “I am not your sex toy. I am not even your soldier anymore. If you are planning to kill them, then I will die protecting them.”

God, he really misses his Steve. Why did he always have to be separated from him like this?

“He managed to make him mad.” Charles whispered nervously into Tony’s ear, as they both watched the face off, not knowing what to do.

“Can you invade his mind?” Tony whispered nervously; eyes trained on his enraged doppelganger.

“I am getting nothing from him. It’s like he is surrounding himself with something that is blocking my powers. Maybe a force field, I don’t know.” Charles muttered in frustration.

“What did you just say?” Dark Tony thundered in anger, moving to grip the shield in AU Steve’s hands tightly with one hand. “Did you forget yourself? I am the one who pulled you out of the ice. I am the first face you saw when you woke up. I am the one who broke you! I can break you again and again! You are nothing without me! You hear me? You are nothing!”

His hand flew to wrap tightly around the soldier’s throat, before he could react.

“Steve!” Tony exclaimed in panic and was about to rush in to help, but Charles held him back tightly with a pained look on his face.

Fuck, Tony was without his suit. He can’t do shit, since the other was fully armored and can kill him in less than two seconds if he wanted to. He needs to figure another way to help, before he makes a move.

“Come on, Doll Face. You know you can’t survive without me.” Dark Tony continued, in a sickly-sweet voice, bringing the soldier’s paling face closer to his. “You have nothing in this world. You only have me. Why don’t you just accept it?”

He tightened his grip around the others throat, ignoring the choked sounds he was letting out, as he tried desperately to release himself.

Dark Tony let out a loud yell, when Tony snuck up behind him, thrusting a screwdriver in a vulnerable place in his shoulder, forcing him to release the soldier, who dropped to the floor to pant heavily.

Dark Tony turned in pure rage towards Tony, who had no time before he was slapped hard, to land on the floor with a thud and a pained groan.

“Tony!” Charles shouted in panic and rushed to land on the floor next to Tony.

“You fucking son of a bitch!” Dark Tony screamed in anger, removing the screwdriver from his shoulder and turned sharply to Tony and Charles on the floor. “You two will die right now! And no one will care! Not your family! Not even your fuck buddies! It’s over!”

He raised his hand to fired up his repulsor at full power, ready to turn Tony and Charles to dust.

“Charles! Move!” Tony pushed desperately at the telepath, who ignored him as he proceeded to push Tony’s body behind his own.

A loud gunshot sounded in the room, Dark Tony moved on reflex, making the bullet graze his exposed neck, instead of hitting his head.

He turned sharply, only to see Dean standing a few feet away, raising his gun towards him with a stern face.

“Step away from them. Now.” He growled, as he pointed the gun to Dark Tony’s forehead.

***

Natasha kept running and ducking between the craters, avoiding the bullets raining down on her, while shooting back at the soldiers.

“Where is Dean?” Bucky yelled over at her, when they crossed paths behind one of the craters.

“He went to Tony and Charles. Crazy Dark Tony apparently went directly to them.” She muttered with a frown. Worry eating her up inside, but Dean told her to stay and try to open the gateway until he is back.

“Fuck. We need to help them!” he exclaimed, while shooting at a soldier that got alarmingly close to them.

“No, he got this! We need to reach the lever and open that damned breach, so we can go home.” Natasha insisted, spotting AU Raven in a far corner, starting to gain her consciousness.

“Seeing that the facility didn’t explode yet, that means AU Logan managed to reach AU Magnets?” Clint announced his presence with that question, landing down next to them gracefully, while bringing down two soldiers, who tried to sneak up on them.

Natasha frowned at Clint’s good question. She almost forgot about the missile that was supposed to blow them apart more than a minute ago.

“Huh, I guess he did.” Bucky murmured with raised eyebrows. “Wow, even that Erik changes his mind when a version of Charles is included. I guess now we know who calls the shots in their house.”

“No time for this.” Natasha said impatiently, watching AU Raven changing her form again into a soldier of the enemy. “We need to work together now to open the breach. Then we will discuss this.”

“What’s the plan?” Clint asked seriously, as he and Bucky looked at her in attention.

AU Raven started to make her way purposefully towards the lever again.

“Cover Raven like your lives depended on it! Which it literally is!” Natasha ordered firmly, before getting out of their hiding spot, raining bullets at the black soldiers.

***

“So, all your versions are a pain in the ass.”

Dark Tony acknowledged Dean’s presence with that sentence, turning to face him with a scowl.

“Dean! What the hell are you doing here?” Tony exclaimed in panic, when he saw his doppelganger turn his angry stare towards his friend.

“Shopping for shoes.” Dean rolled his eyes at Tony, gun still pointed firmly at the dark version. “To save your ass obviously.”

“How precious.” Dark Tony spat in disdain, taking a step towards Dean. “Your version here would let me rot and die. To be fair, I would do the same to him.”

“Well, I guess you suit each other then.” Dean retorted with a snarl, as he walked closer to the scene. “You both are a piece of shits.”

Charles used that chance to pull Tony to his feet. When the genius tried to go help Dean, Charles pulled him back firmly.

“We will just slow him down.” Charles whispered firmly to him, pulling his attention back to his face. “We need to go free the other Charles, so we could leave.”

“Dean won’t be able to take that piece of shit on his own! That guy is fucking nuts!” Tony hissed at him in panic, eyeing Dean and Dark Tony as they sized each other up. “We need to help him!”

“He won’t be on his own.” AU Steve pulled himself up to his feet, a firm look on his face. “He will get help.”

With that, AU Steve and Dean charged at the same time towards the Dark Iron Man, who seemed to be waiting for their attack.

“Fuck, fuck! Why do I always lose my suit in the worst situations ever?!” Tony growled in frustration, as he watched Dean and AU Steve fight viciously, avoiding Dark Tony’s repulsors expertly, both working together in tandem, landing hit after hit to the vicious genius, who responded in kind, not holding back.

“You can help, Tony!” Charles insisted as he pulled him towards the pod. “By getting that man out, you will help our world and this world!”

“Yeah, yeah. Right.” Tony shook himself out of his intense stare of the fight and turned to work again on the pod.

“No! you will not get him out!” Dark Tony shouted manically, noticing what Tony was doing.

He raised his palm toward Tony, but AU Steve gripped him from behind tightly, while Dean rushed to push his arm towards the ceiling instead.

The repulsor beam hit the ceiling with a loud explosion, bringing debris falling down on the floor.

Dark Tony hit Dean hard across his face, then slammed AU Steve’s back against the wall, pushing the air out of him, before slamming his head against the hard wall.

“You all idiots!” he laughed hysterically as they both hit the floor, groaning in pain. “I can’t be defeated! You are all weak, worthless trash! You don’t even deserve to be alive.” He reached down to grip Dean’s hair tightly, forcing him to meet his eyes. “I can’t kill your far better version here, no matter how much I want to, but killing you will be equally satisfying.”

“No, let him go!” Tony and Charles exclaimed in panic, stopping what they were doing. AU Steve looked up with a pained groan, feeling helpless as he struggled to move.

“Step away from that pod and I might let him go.” Dark Tony growled, titling Dean’s head more harshly, ignoring the hunter’s pained groan. “Replace every wire you removed to its place. Now!”

“Guys, don’t!” Dean shouted desperately, ignoring the pain shooting through his head and neck.

Tony and Charles took a step away from the pod, eyeing Dark Tony carefully.

Then, Charles tensed and two seconds later a smile spread across his face, confusing everyone around him.

“No, we will not.” Charles said calmly, an almost relieved smile on his face.

“Are you deaf? Do it, or I will kill him right in front of you!” Dark Tony screamed in pure rage, hating the smile on Charles’ face.

“Charles, What are you doing?” Tony hissed at him nervously, watching the pained look on Dean’s face from the awkward angle his neck was forced to.

“Don’t worry, Tony. Everything will be fine.” Charles smiled warmly at Tony.

Dean, Tony and AU Steve looked at Charles strangely, while Dark Tony almost lost his mind in anger.

“What the fuck are you smiling about, you freak of nature?” he shouted, getting nervous and frustrated.

“I am smiling because of this.” He answered sweetly, pointing at the door.

In the next second, the door exploded violently, revealing a small army of fully armed mutants and humans, who rushed into the room like they own it, startling everyone inside.

At the head of the small army, a hooded figure armed with a bow and arrow, looking more like pure anger walking on legs.

AU Erik’s eyes landed on them, they could see the rage and hatred in them the moment they landed on Dark Tony, whose face was as pale as a sheet.

“You.” AU Erik growled in pure anger, starting towards them. “You will die, Tony Stark! You will not get out of here alive!”


	24. Chapter 24

Steve ducked behind what used to be a couch at some point.

A day ago. It used to be a couch a day ago. Today was supposed to be a fucking wedding. He was supposed to officiate that wedding. Seeing two of his closest friends getting married. Binding their lives together. Having some of the happiness he had with Tony. Seeing Dean watching his brother become happy and content. Castiel would be there, with his warm smile, pretending not to notice the tears in Dean’s eyes.

Instead, they were fighting Ultron again, who decided to ruin their home during the fight. Evil doppelgangers are after his best friend’s heart. Not to mention that he had no idea if his husband was even alive, along with four of his closest friends and the man who was pretty much his brother. While the rest of the team were fighting for their lives in their home right now.

He just wanted to be in bed with Tony at the moment. Curled around each other, away from harm. Away from evil doppelgangers. Invasions. Injuries. Just safe and together and _home_.

With him not knowing what Tony’s fate is, he wasn’t sure if he will ever get that again. He wasn’t sure if he will ever see his husband’s smile again.

Even if Tony was alive, Steve wasn’t sure he will live long enough to see him, with how vicious that damned robot was attacking them.

If Ultron just gave him a second to breathe, he would have burst into tears from frustration and bent up grief by now.

On cue, the damned robot blew the couch Steve was taking shelter behind.

Just when he was about to get hit, Erik came out of nowhere pulling him by the metal in his belt away from harm.

Ultron just let out a loud laugh then charged at them again. 

***

Dark Tony released Dean, as he took a step back, eyes widening in pure terror the moment he laid eyes on AU Erik, charging with righteous anger towards them,

“You. No, no, you are dead! He killed you! I saw it myself!” he exclaimed in panic, as he froze in his place.

“Well, looks like we have something in common. We both like to fake deaths.” AU Erik growled when he reached them, eyes trained on the terrified genius.

At the same time, AU Hank rushed to Tony and Charles, eyes widening when he saw the body laying in the pod, then proceeded to help them release it, without asking questions. While AU Steve moved to help Dean back to his feet and away, close to the geniuses working on the sleeping telepath.

The rest of the rebel army stood around, guns and powers trained at Dark Tony, who only had eyes for the metal binder. 

“You son of a bitch.” Erik pretty much screamed at the man’s face; the entire room is vibrating along with his anger. “When everyone abandoned your sorry ass, Charles was the only one who stood by you! Until the last possible moment, he mistakenly believed there is hope for you! This is how you thank him? Faking his death. Keeping him inside a pod as a battery for your pet robot?!”

“He is about to fly off.” Charles whispered in alarm to his friends, making them all move at the same time.

Dark Tony was about to indeed try to escape and fly off, but in the next moment, AU Steve’s shield flew to hit his legs, while Tony and Dean jumped him from behind, thrusting two screwdrivers into his shoulders, forcing him to land to his knees.

“Fucking hell!” he shouted in frustration and was about to hit them, but his entire body froze and he failed to move an inch.

“You increased the magnetic metals in your suit.” AU Erik observed as he eyed him with pure hatred in his eyes. “You thought I was dead, so you felt safe to increase whatever kind of metal in your suit. Bad move. You are supposed to be a genius.”

“Look, look! Just take him. You don’t need to kill me after that ri-fuck!” the words choked out of him as AU Erik made a fist with his hand, making the Iron Man suit tighten around its owner hard.

“I don’t need to what?!” AU Erik thundered, tightening his hold in the process. “For years! You made me think he was dead for years! If it wasn’t for you, we would have been married, and living a quiet life away from this a long time ago! You ruined our lives! You ruined everything! My only regret is that I can only kill you once!”

“To be fair, his life was already ruined.” The dark genius let out a cruel, choked off laugh, a crazy look in his eyes, seeming to ignore the fact that he was currently being crushed by his own suit. “He was about to marry the man who paralyzed him. I did him a favor really. What use could he do to the world in a wheelchair? Open his fucking school?! At least what I did, made him do something actually useful with his life!”

He leaned forward towards the metal binder, not seeming to care anymore that he was about to be killed.

“I did a lot of bad things. To him. To a lot of people.” His smirk turned maniac as he trailed his eyes between them all, laughing hysterically. “I raped Captain America and made him my sex slave! I turned my childhood friend into a living battery to a killer robot and told his family that he is dead. I helped the king raid SHIELD and killing everyone in there. I helped him take over the world. I murdered hundreds of people, who dared to get in our way.”

His eyes glowed with the craziness that was pretty much oozing from his words and voice. “And I don’t regret any of it! If I can go back in time, I will do it all over again! You hear me?! I don’t regret it! The only thing I regret is not killing you with my own hands! At least then, I would have died right now by someone better.”

AU Erik snarled in rage, then in the next second, he was in front of the crazed genius, and thrusted his hand harshly into his chest, removing his arc reactor with one swift move.

Tony flinched at the scene, making Dean and Charles step closer to him, both in support and to keep him from watching the brutal scene.

Dark Tony watched dully as AU Erik crushed the arc reactor in his hand, eyes trained firmly on the dying genius’ face.

“Do everyone around a favor and die.” He spat, shoving him to the floor and getting back to his feet.

Dark Tony writhed on the floor, gasping, sweating, as his heart failed him slowly but surely.

Tony crouched next to him, watching him calmly, a sad look on his face.

“Do you know why I no longer have the arc reactor?” He murmured idly, watching the other’s unfocused eyes trail towards his voice. “Because I was never like you. That got me a family. A family that cared enough to heal me.” He leaned towards the dying man. “I will never be in your position. Dying alone in a room filled with people who hate your guts.”

Dark Tony let out a pained gasp, his eyes trailing to land on AU Steve, who was watching him with a hollow face. Looking tired, drained and pained.

“I-I Al-always h-hat-hated y-you.” Dark Tony spat harshly at the soldier in a fading voice, before letting out a sharp gasp, then his body stilled forever with that last breath.

Tony Stark of the dark world was officially gone.

***

Steve was pulled harshly by Ultron and was slammed hard against the wall.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Rhodey helping Wilson up. Logan cursing loudly as he pulled a pipe from his stomach, Hank was unconscious, Thor was half outside a broken window and was being pulled in by Erik and Bruce, the former was starting to get disoriented and drained from his head injury.

Ultron was too strong, he is going to kill them at this rate. Steve wasn’t sure how long are they were going to hold on.

“I heard you destroyed my version in this world.” Ultron snarled into his face, his cold metallic face was sending shivers down his spine. “I find that hard to believe with how pathetic you are.”

“We didn’t lose.” Steve said firmly, a stubborn look on his face as he faced the robot in determination. “I can do this all day.”

***

Sam and Raven were supporting a still weak Castiel as they rushed through the halls, followed by a frantic Charlie, to get the angel out of the Tower.

“This is a very nice way to spend your wedding day, Sam.” Castiel muttered under his breath, feeling more frustrated than tired at this point if he was being honest.

“Yeah, well, that’s how our life is. I am an idiot if I thought it will be different because it’s my wedding.” Sam sighed bitterly, tightening his hold on the angel as they reached the garage.

“We don’t even know if your best man and your future wife will come back or not.” The angel’s voice was heavy with pain and bitterness at the mention of Dean, making Sam’s heart break in his chest. He didn’t try to think about Dean, Natasha and their friends so far. It was too painful to think about the possibilities.

“Come on, it’s Dean. He is probably fighting tooth and nail with the others to come back and save the day.” Charlie tried to reassure them, while she kept looking back frantically, to see if they were followed.

“Exactly. I am sure they will turn up any moment now.” Raven added with a hopeful note in her voice, trying to ignore how she was suppressing her own panic for her missing brother.

“Right now, we just need to get you out of here.” Sam said firmly, as they reached the Impala.

But before he could open the door, an arrow shot through the air, landing on the door, missing Sam’s hand by an inch.

They froze, before turning around slowly. Only to find themselves face to face with Dark Dean, who was pointing an arrow at them, ready to shoot.

“Step away from the angel.” He ordered coldly, no ounce of emotion on his face. “Or you will all die.”

***

AU Raven was at the lever, Natasha, Clint and Bucky were covering her, as they shoot at the soldiers, who seemed to be increasing no matter how many of them they killed.

“It’s hopeless! Even if we opened the breach, we will never be able to reach it from this endless number of soldiers shooting at us!” Clint exclaimed frantically, drenched in sweat and looking to be on the verge of collapsing.

Natasha and Bucky didn’t look any better.

“We have no other choice. We need to keep moving,” Natasha shouted while pointing her gun at a soldier.

Only to find out that she was out of ammo.

“I am out!” she exclaimed with wide eyes, stunned at her own mistake for missing count on her own ammo.

“Fuck, me too.” Bucky muttered in frustration, dropping his gun and pulling a knife instead to throw it at the soldier about to shoot Natasha.

“Great, this is just great!” Clint cursed as he shoot the last of his ammo at a few soldiers.

They were out of ammo, while the soldiers kept shooting at them.

“Well, it was really nice knowing you guys.” Clint muttered as he closed his eyes bitterly.

“It’s not over it!” Natasha insisted desperately, pulling out a knife.

“Nat, look around you. We are outnumbered. Unarmed. It’s done.” Bucky sighed in defeat, feeling drained and sad. 

“Listen here, you big idiots, this is my wedding day! And I am not dying in another world, while my fiancé is fighting for his life in our world! I will not accept that. We will go home, and will fucking get married and you two will be there!” She practically shouted at their faces, making their eyes widen in shock. They never saw her lose her shit like that.

In the next second, before either of them made a move, a small army of humans and mutants, led by AU Logan, crashed into the room, shooting away at the startled soldiers.

Seeing that, AU Raven jumped and pulled down the lever.

The gateway opened with a strong burst of power, and the breached appeared wide open.

***

“Pull him out!” AU Erik ordered for what felt like the tenth time, as he waited impatiently for the geniuses to pull his still sleeping lover from the pod.

“We are trying! If we pulled at a wrong wire, we might kill him, so calm down already!” Tony snapped back, working twice as fast from AU Erik’s relentless pressure.

“Why isn’t he waking up? Is he alive? Check if he is breathing.” The metal binder asked again, looking two seconds away from pushing them away from the pod and releasing the sleeping telepath himself.

“He is alive. His brain is working just fine. He will wake up soon enough when we release him.” Charles was the one to answer, sending AU Erik a gentle smile. “He can feel your presence.”

An anguish look passed on the metal binder’s face, eyes flying to his sleeping lover’s, feeling his heart fluttering in his chest.

Charles is alive. His Charles will be back to his arms soon.

It’s been too long. He finally can feel alive again for the first time in years.

Meanwhile, AU Steve was staring down at Dark Tony’s body, an unreadable look on his face.

He leaned down, closing the man’s eyes with the palm of his hand.

“You forgave him, didn’t you?” he looked up at the sound of Dean’s voice, who was looking down at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t know.” He sighed, getting back to his feet and looked down at the body again with a conflicted look on his face. “He ruined my life. Stripped away everything from me. Raped and tortured me, physically and mentally. But-“ he sighed and looked away with a pained look. “For years now, he was the only thing I had.”

“That’s not an enough reason to forgive a rapist bastard like him.” Dean pointed out in disapproval, as he looked at AU Steve with a frown.

“I know. It’s just-“ he sighed and turned to look at Tony, who had a very concentrated look on his face as he fiddled with the last wire connected to AU Charles’ body.

“I saw the man he could have been if things were different.” AU Steve murmured with a soft, sad smile, watching Tony as he worked. “He was seduced into leading a dark path. He didn’t resist. He just jumped into it with all he had, until he went mad. Everything he did was unforgivable. But-“ his smile turned bitter and full of grief. “-if things were different. If he had resisted. If he had become what he should have been, I could have easily fallen for him.” 

He kept watching Tony with that sad, bitter smile, while Dean’s eyes were slowly widening as he watched him.

“Your Steve Rogers is surely one lucky fella, isn’t he?” the soldier murmured, seeming to not notice he had said that out loud.

“Aha! I am done!” Tony exclaimed in victory, after he safely removed the last wire from the sleeping telepath’s body.

AU Erik immediately rushed forward, gently, so gently, moving his arms under AU Charles’ body and pulled him out of the pod.

He looked down at his sleeping face, and his cold face crumpled as a tear slid down from his eye, a shuddering breath left his lips as he pulled the telepath tightly into his chest, burying his face into his hair, breathing him in.

The commander act dropped completely, as he turned into a drowning man that finally found his savior.

A small smile spread on Dean’s face at that, as Tony and Charles watched the scene with their own smiles. AU Steve’s eyes remained on Tony, while AU Hank had tears falling from his eyes.

One thing he learned from this dark world, even with how horrible it was for them here, is that no matter how the circumstances were different, no matter that themselves were different, there were things that will forever remain the same, whatever the world they were in.

Steve Rogers will always fall for Tony Stark.

Erik Lehnsherr will always be balanced by Charles Xavier.

And Dean Winchester will always find the angel Castiel.


	25. Chapter 25

In less than fifteen minutes, the hangar was filled with dead black soldiers littering the floor.

Natasha, Bucky and Clint stood there, panting hard as they stared at the open breach with wide eyes.

"We did it." Clint murmured with awed eyes, "Holy crap, we did it."

Just when he said that, Tony, Dean and Charles ran into the room, only to stop and look around with wide eyes. Followed by AU Steve, Hank and Erik, who was still clutching AU Charles in his arms.

"They got him out." Natasha whispered with a small smile, as she saw the AU mutant couple reunited.

From the other side of the room, AU Raven and Logan practically ran towards their commander, to stare with wide, tear filled eyes at the sleeping telepath.

Their three friends approached them, while they still watched the sweet reunion of that small family.

"Dark Tony?" Bucky asked with a raised eyebrow when they were close enough.

"Dead. AU Erik ended him in a very gruesome way." Tony answered with a shudder. "God, remind me to never piss off our Erik so much. That scene will forever be engrained in my head."

"If our Erik tried anything, he would probably die first by Steve's hands, who will get his brain fried by a distraught Charles and then we will have too many widowers in the house." Dean commented with a small chuckle, feeling relieved the moment he saw the breach open.

Charles shrugged without really denying Dean's sentence, a soft smile on his face.

"You opened the breach." Tony grinned as he eyed the gateway.

"Well, it was AU Raven really, but yeah." Clint grinned back at him in relief. "We can finally go home now."

They started to make their way to the breach, feeling like their part in this world was finally done, but a voice behind them made them stop.

"Wait," AU Erik called out carefully, approaching them with a surprisingly guilty look on his face. "Before you go, I-um, I just wanted to say that I-"

"That you are sorry for almost nuking us all in a bout of vengeful anger?" Dean commented with an amused smile at AU Erik's struggle, letting out a chuckle when Charles gave him an unamused look.

"Well, yes." AU Erik sighed in defeat, looking down at his unconscious lover in his arms. "I promised to give you an hour. I didn't keep my word and it almost cost me more than I could imagine. I should have trusted you, and I apologize for that."

They blinked at him, stunned. A version of Erik Lehnsherr was apologizing. That might be the most bizarre thing they ever saw so far. Maybe even more bizarre than seeing a dark version of Tony.

"Wow, that's, um, no worries, really." Tony shrugged with a nervous chuckle. 

"We understand that you are in a war and needed to make tough decisions." Charles reassured in a gentle voice, as he gave the newly reunited couple a soft smile. "I hope that your anger is pacified now."

AU Erik gazed at him then looked back down at his lover, a soft look in his eyes. AU Raven and Logan came up to stand beside him, followed by AU Steve who was eyeing Tony carefully.

"What are you going to do now that you are free?" Tony asked AU Steve curiously, when the former approached him. "You know, you can always come with us. Have a new beginning. A new life."

AU Steve looked at him for a few seconds, then smiled softly, and a little sadly, at him.

"Thank you, Tony, but I am pretty sure your world doesn't need another Steve Rogers." He said with a soft chuckle, a sad look in his eyes. "Besides, even with how broken it is, this is my world. I can't leave it torn apart like that and leave. Even with the way it treated me."

"Then what's your plan?" the genius asked with a small smile, like he was expecting that answer from the other man.

"I will go with Commander Lehnsherr." He answered as he shared a look with the metal binder, who gave him a nod in return. "There is still much to do after we destroy the portal. He will need help to achieve it and I am willing to finally do something that will help my world."

“Wow, guess no matter what world we are in, you will always be a Steve Rogers.” Tony chuckled fondly, as he gave him a smile and a soft look that made AU Steve’s breath hitch a little. “Well, I guess this is goodbye. I really do hope you will manage to have a new beginning here, Steve.”

AU Steve eyed Tony for a second, before giving him a bitter smile.

“Yeah. Me too.” He murmured softly, feeling the weight of what happened to him pressing more persistently on his shoulders.

“We need to go.” Dean announced as he motioned towards the breach, “We have an angel to save, a family to free and doppelgangers to kill.”

“Right.” Tony nodded, gave AU Steve one last smile, before moving towards Dean.

“Thank you.” AU Erik murmured, stopping Charles before he moved to follow them. AU Raven and Logan are also looking at him gratefully. “Just-Thank you.”

Charles glanced at each one of them, before smiling gently.

“Be happy, Erik.” He whispered fondly, looking over at the metal binder. “You deserve it. Just be happy.”

AU Erik smiled back at him, then looked down at his sleeping lover and nodded.

“Well, we will be going now.” Natasha nodded at them, then they all turned and walked towards the breach.

Right before they stepped through it, Dean looked back one last time.

The last thing he saw before they disappeared from this world forever, was AU Steve’s sad, lost eyes, Erik’s fond smile and Logan and Raven’s grateful faces.

***

The moment Team Dark World released AU Charles from the pod, Ultron got disoriented.

After losing his ‘battery’, he stumbled and became confused of his surroundings. Losing his focus, when he was two seconds away from killing Steve.

Steve, noticing this, took his chance.

“Everyone attack! Now, before he gets his bearings back!” Steve shouted, jumping towards his shield and slammed it hard against Ultron’s face, making him fly and land in the middle of the room.

Immediately, Erik dismantled a metal chair and threw it at the robot, which surprisingly pierced him, nailing him to the floor despite his resistance.

Thor then used his hammer to summon lightening that he sent all at the robot, who couldn’t move to run away from it. At the same time, Rhodey and Sam Wilson started shooting at Ultron with all their might, while screaming curses at him, then Logan and Hank jumped on him and started to dismantle his limbs at rocket speed.

In under two minutes, Ultron exploded, before he could say anything, leaving behind a pile of broken metal parts and limbs.

They all stood there, panting harshly, while covered in bruises and cuts.

“What the hell happened?” Wilson asked in confusion. “Why did he slow down suddenly and became a puppet that got its strings cut?”

The comment made Steve pause and blink as he thought about it.

“Maybe that’s exactly what happened.” He murmured under his breath, eyeing the remains of the robot curiously.

“What are you talking about?” Erik frowned at him in confusion. Impatience and frustration in his voice.

Steve looked up at him, noticing his pale, tired face. The back of his neck was covered in blood, his head injury must have been reopened in the fight, making him bleed all over himself, while he ignored it stubbornly.

To be fair, as Steve trailed his eyes over the others, they all looked horrible and bloody. Well, except for Logan, whose injuries already healed and Steve seriously considered hitting him in the face for that.

This had been a rough couple of days for all of them.

He trailed his eyes again towards Ultron, or what remained of him anyway.

‘A puppet that got his strings cut off’, that’s what Wilson said. What if it was true? What if in the Dark world, something happened that caused this? What if-

He was about to voice his thoughts to his friends, but then stopped and looked down at his wedding ring suddenly, with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“Steve?” Rhodey called out in worry, when he noticed the Captain’s sudden reaction.

He didn’t hear him. He was focusing on his ring.

When Steve didn’t answer, they all got concerned and stepped closer to him.

“Captain, are you alright?” Thor asked in a careful concerned voice.

This time, Steve did look up at them with wide eyes, startling them.

“The ring.” He murmured in disbelieve, still unable to believe it, hope bubbling in his chest. “The ring. It’s beating again. I can feel Tony’s heartbeats again!”

***

Sam moved carefully to hide Castiel and the two women behind him, as he stood to face Dark Dean, putting himself between him and the angel.

“I said step away from the angel.” Dark Dean repeated, pointing his readied arrow at Sam, his face looking like an ice sculpture from how emotionless and cold it was.

“No.” Sam said firmly, standing his ground and facing the Dark King unflinchingly.

“Then you will die first.” Dark Dean just shrugged, as he started to release his hold on the arrow.

Charlie and Raven stepped from behind Sam to stand beside him, facing the king while hiding a protesting Castiel behind them.

“If you want him, you will have to go through us first,” Charlie said firmly, glaring at the king.

He trailed his eyes between them, frustration creeping into his cold face.

“You do realize that this is a waste of time, right?” He raised an eyebrow at them with a deep frown. “None of you is a match for me. I can kill you under one minute and take him from under your noses. So just make it easier for all of us and hand him over.”

“Sam, let me-“ Castiel started carefully, but was hushed by Sam, who earned an indignant look from the angel for his trouble. “Sam, just don’t-“

“You know what? No, we are not handing him over.” Sam stated in a strong voice, not caring that there was an arrow pointed towards his chest. “You are also not going to take this world. If you killed us now, the rest of this family will hunt you down, and they are going to win. You choose the wrong world to mess with. Because here? We fight anyone who comes near our family.”

Dark Dean looked at him with a bored expression, looking two seconds away from rolling his eyes.

“These are very nice last words.” He commented coldly, trailing his eyes between them. “Now, goodbye.”

“Drop your weapon!” the same voice rang through the room, making them jump and look towards it with wide eyes.

Only to see Dean, their Dean, standing on the other side of the garage, his arm choking Dark Castiel’s neck, who was too weak to fight him off, with a gun pointed at his head. Behind Dean, Natasha stood, pointing her own gun at Dark Dean, a vicious glare on her face.

“Dean!” Castiel called out in pure relief the moment he laid his eyes on the hunter, feeling his body shake from the power of his relief. Sam’s eyes widened when he saw his brother and fiancée, while Charlie and Raven breathed out in shock.

Dean’s eyes trailed over them, stopping at Castiel, relief evident on his face that he wasn’t too late, then stared back at his doppelganger, while tightening his grip on the Dark angel.

“His head doesn’t seem invincible right now, so I will say it again, Drop your weapon!” Dean demanded, glaring hard at the doppelganger.

Dark Dean was frozen, looking at them with wide eyes, while his arrow was still pointed at Sam.

“Don’t listen to him, just shoot them!” Dark Castiel ordered harshly, trying to free himself from the tight grip.

“No! No, don’t you dare!” Dean yelled in rage, pressing the gun more firmly to the Dark angel’s head. “Make a move and I will blow his fucking brains out.” 

“You don’t have it in you! You are too weak!” Dark Castiel growled in frustration, as he struggled again.

“Do you really want to test that?”

“If he didn’t do it, I will.” Natasha interjected, pointing her gun at Dark Castiel too. “Drop your weapon. Now.”

Dark Dean’s grip on the bow tightened as he trailed his eyes back towards Sam and the girls.

“We can help you save him.” Dean said carefully, eyeing his doppelganger.

“There is only one way to save me and you know it!” Dark Castiel growled in frustration.

“This is a tower filled with brilliant people, they will find another way. There are ways to do this without hurting anyone! Without hurting Cas!” Dean tried without releasing the Dark Angel.

“He is lying!” Dark Castiel shouted, eyes trained on his husband, who was staring back at him. “Do it for the Fatherland! Just kill them!”

“Do it, and you can say goodbye to him.” Natasha yelled in frustration, her finger ready to press the trigger.

Dark Dean stood there frozen for a second, before suddenly pulling out a metal sphere from his belt and threw it the floor.

The sphere exploded, letting out a bright white light, that blinded them all for a few seconds.

When the light went out and they opened their eyes, Dark Dean and Dark Castiel were nowhere to be seen.


	26. Chapter 26

They blinked for a few seconds at the places where their Dark Doppelgangers occupied just a few seconds ago, still trying to understand how did they disappear like that.

Dean was the first one to snap out of his confusion, as he suddenly looked up towards Castiel.

“Cas!” he exclaimed, before throwing his gun and started running towards his husband, then practically crushing his bones in a tight hug when he reached him.

Castiel threw his arms around Dean in return, completely sagging in relief the moment the hunter was within reach, as he buried his face into Dean’s neck while the hunter tightened his grip on him like he was going to disappear if he eased his hold.

“Oh God, you are not dead. You are not dead.” Dean breathed out in pure relief, as he pressed his lips repeatedly on the side of the angel’s face. “I was afraid I will be too late, but you are alive. God, you are alive.”

“You are not dead either.” Castiel murmured into Dean’s skin, the weakness in his body and the relief he was feeling was making him lean completely into his husband’s arms. “I knew you will get here just in time. I knew you will come back.”

Dean closed his eyes as he practically melted in the embrace, as he felt the warmth of Castiel’s body against his. The warmth that proves he was alive and well.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Castiel saw Natasha run towards a stunned Sam and throwing herself in his arms. He blinked for a second, before grinning in ecstatic relief as he pulled her against his body tightly, burying his face in her hair, while her arms wounded around his middle, practically crushing his bones, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Raven and Charlie watched the two reunions with happy smiles on their faces, looking like they were afraid to breath to not shatter the two moments.

Dean eventually pulled away, only far enough to grab Castiel’s face and trail his eyes all over him, looking for any sign of injury.

“Are you hurt? Did they do something to you? Why are you so fucking pale? Well, you are always pale, but you are paler than usual. Fuck, you can barely stand on your feet! What did they do to you? I will kill them! I will fucking rip their lungs out!” Dean rambled with no intention to stop, as he trailed his hands and eyes all over the angel’s body, expecting to see a hidden injury.

“Dean, I am fine.” Castiel tried to reassure him with an amused, fond smile as he watched Dean continued his rambling. “I am just weak from that red light; I will be back to full strength soon enough.”

Dean trailed his eyes back up to meet Castiel’s, looking deeply into his eyes for a second, before surging forward to cup his face and press their lips together.

After a kiss that almost made Castiel fall forward from how weak his knees got, Dean pulled away to press his forehead against his and closed his eyes.

“So good to see you alive, Cas.” He murmured softly, relief and joy obvious in his voice.

“I wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for you.” Castiel whispered back, finally feeling like he could relax.

He honestly thought he was going to die today. He wasn’t going to let Dark Dean kill Sam and the girls. He was going to let them take his heart. He thought he was never going to see Dean again.

But he was here. He was safe. He got here just in time like always.

Eventually, they pulled away, just when Sam and Natasha finished their reunion kiss and turned towards them with matching grins.

“Sammy.” Dean grinned happily, as he moved to hug his brother, who crushed him in a tight hug.

“You always know how to make an entrance.” Sam chuckled into his brother’s shoulder, feeling sweet relief spread through him for Dean’s safety.

“Yeah. It’s a gift.” Dean grinned as he clapped his brother on the shoulder happily.

They saw Natasha pulling Castiel into a tight hug, which he returned happily while smiling down at her.

After Dean and Natasha got their Thank-God-You-Are-Not-Dead hugs from Charlie and Raven, they finally turned serious eyes to them, as Dean wrapped an arm around Castiel to support him.

“Now,” Natasha started seriously, even while leaning against Sam’s body. “Tell us everything that happened after we were taken.”

***

“Come on, we need to spread out through the tower to take out any black soldier we find and make sure that Castiel got out safe.”

Steve ordered the team, as he tried his best to ignore the constant beating of his ring.

They need to make sure their home was safe again, before he dwells on his hopes.

Just as the team nodded, a group of the mentioned black soldiers rushed into the room, their guns pointed at them.

“Freeze! Nobody moves! Or we-“ the soldier didn’t get a chance to finish, because in the next moment, he and his team were attacked from behind so fast that no one had time to react or understand what just happened.

They blinked down at the fallen soldiers, then looked up at their attackers.

Only to see Tony, Charles, Bucky and Clint grinning at them smugly. Way too smugly.

“Being damsels in distress is not a good look on you.” Tony raised an eyebrow at them, his grin still intact.

“I know! We keep running around all day, saving asses. It’s getting boring.” Clint rolled his eyes with a mock sigh.

“It’s a tragedy in our life that we must endure with open hearts.” Charles shook his head grimly, which was ruined by the grin still on his face.

“Oh, the tragedy.” Bucky placed a hand on his heart, with a dramatic look on his face.

The team couldn’t help but grin at them, feeling relief and joy spread through them when they saw them.

Steve and Erik felt like they couldn’t breathe, as they stared at their husbands. Trying to make sure they weren’t seeing things. That this was true.

Tony’s grin turned soft the moment he laid eyes on Steve.

“Hey there, honey.” He murmured warmly as he took a step towards him.

Steve immediately dropped his shield as he rushed towards his husband with open arms, pulling him tightly against his chest the moment he reached him, feeling Tony’s arms wrap around him in return, as he buried his face against his chest.

Before Erik could react, Charles was suddenly there, jumping in his arms and wrapping his arms tightly around his neck.

“God, Erik, you are alive.” Charles completely melted in relief, as he practically melded into him.

Erik let out a shuddering breath as he wrapped his arms tightly around his husband. Feeling his eyes tearing up in relief, but he blinked the tears away fast as he buried his face in Charles’ shoulder.

“You are here. You are safe. You are here.” Erik rambled repeatedly, unable to believe that Charles was really here, as he tightened his arms around him and kept kissing every inch of his face he could reach.

“I am here, Erik. I am finally here.” Charles murmured as he practically became putty in Erik’s arms, hiding his face and tearing up eyes in his husband’s neck. “God, it feels so good to see you alive, Erik. So good.”

Erik just smiled and moved his head to kiss Charles’ forehead sweetly, loving the feel of him back in his arms.

Meanwhile, Bucky was also tackled by Wilson, who pulled him in his arms almost violently, while the rest of the team moved closer with grins on their faces.

Clint raised his arms, like he was expecting a hug too.

“Oh, wait! I forgot. I have no one!” he exclaimed dramatically, making everyone turn towards him and laugh at his misery.

“That’s partially your fault, you know?” Rhodey chuckled as he hugged Clint and clapped his hand on his back happily.

“I appreciate it, Rhodes, but you are not my type.” Clint grinned as he hugged him back.

“Don’t you worry my friend! You will get your most deserved welcome hug!” Thor boomed excitedly, as he rushed to take Clint from Rhodey and raised him from the floor as he bearhugged him like his life depended on it.

“Fuck!” Clint choked out, as he struggled to take a breath, while trying to release himself, “Now I remember why I am single! Fucking hell, Thor, you are killing me!”

Tony turned away from the utterly hilarious scene, just as Bruce and Hank tried to coax Thor into releasing Clint, and turned to look up at his husband, who had his eyes trained on him the entire time.

“Hey, Good looking.” Tony grinned fondly at him, as he leaned up to press a soft kiss to his nose. “Miss me?”

A tear rolled down from Steve’s eye, before he surged forward to kiss Tony desperately, like he was a dying man that finally was able to breathe.

Tony was startled, but he kissed him back just as passionately, as he wrapped his arms around his neck.

“I thought you were dead.” Steve choked out against Tony’s lips; more tears were falling from his eyes. “God, Tony, I thought I will never see you again.”

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, I am fine, you’re fine. It’s alright now.” Tony whispered as he pulled Steve forward, letting him bury his face into his neck, while he carded his fingers through his hair. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s fine.”

During the reunion, they almost forgot that the Tower was still infested with black soldiers, there was still doppelgangers out there that wants to end them. Just right then, nothing seemed to matter except the fact that no one died. They all reunited in one piece, stronger than ever.

Well, there was still something they still think about.

“Fuck, Cas!” Steve exclaimed suddenly with a pale face, as he pulled away a little from Tony.

His exclaim made everyone turn to him with wide eyes, as they realized that the angel was still in danger.

“We need to spread out!” Steve stated hurriedly as he stepped away from Tony, but reached for his hand to keep it in his firmly. “We need to clear out the Tower and make sure that Castiel made it out.”

***

Dean and Sam were helping Castiel walk as they tried to make their way up again to meet with the others, the three women were following them closely, while looking around tensely in case of another attack.

Which happened a lot, since the tower was fucking infested with those soldiers, it was ridiculous. It was like, every time they turned a corner, they find a group of soldiers, who were ready to earn extra points with their king to bring Castiel back to him, or at least his heart.

So, they were fighting viciously to take the angel from them.

Which was stupid, cause every single person in this little team will die first before letting that happen.

“This is getting frustrating.” Dean growled, after Natasha knocked down another soldier that thought it was a good idea to aim a gun at Castiel’s head. “All we did so far is fighting those bastards. It’s like they never end.”

“By the time we reach the penthouse, we will be wiped out.” Raven muttered as she slammed a soldier’s head against the wall hard.

“Well, at least it looks like the doppelgangers are not in the building anymore.” Sam commented a little hopefully as he and Dean moved a too weak Castiel away from the fight. “They obviously retreated for now, I just hope they had retreated along with their soldiers instead of leaving them behind to hunt us like that.”

“I am going to kill them.” Dean growled, trying to rush them towards the elevator.

“Leave my doppelganger to me. He gets on my nerves too much.” Castiel muttered with a frown, obviously hating every moment of his forced weakness.

When they reached the elevator, a large group of soldiers followed them and raised their guns at them, while shouting at them to stop.

The elevators doors opened then, revealing the best sight they could ask for right now.

Steve and Tony blinked at them dumbly for a second.

“Hey, guys.” Dean grinned at them in relief, earning two matching ones from his friends, then gestured behind them. “A little help, please?” 


	27. Chapter 27

In under thirty minutes, the tower was completely free of black soldiers and they managed to get everything under control again.

“We need to gather everyone.” Dean said urgently, as he walked beside Steve, after locking up the last soldier. “Their Castiel is going to go nuclear and the AUers are gonna use their death ship to threaten New York and leverage us to surrender our Cas.”

“How do you know that?” Steve asked with a deep frown as he thought about all this. They hadn’t had time to properly take a break and reunite, but Steve was relieved to no end that his friends and his husband managed to come back from that other world in one piece, even if he still didn’t know all the details of what happened to them there.

“It’s exactly what I would do.” Dean announced with a deep scowl.

Steve turned to him, eyeing him carefully, before nodding as they both marched towards the elevator.

***

Meanwhile, on the AUers battleship, Dark Castiel laid on the bed in the med bay with Dark Dean by his side.

“I am sorry.” Dark Castiel muttered without looking at the other man.

“For what?” Dark Dean frowned at him in confusion.

“For being so weak.” The dark angel spat in almost disgust at his current state.

“We have managed to stabilize his deterioration.” One of the medics said nervously, trying not to look the man in the eye. “But without a transplant, he would be dead within the hour.”

“Quiet!” Dark Dean snapped harshly, making the man jump and cower back. “Get out. Now!”

The medic rushed out of the room, as the king returned his gaze back to the Dark angel.

“Don’t listen to him.” He said calmly, looking back at him as he continued confidently. “There is more strength in you, than in this entire world of pathetic heroes combined.” He took a hold of his hand, as he looked back at him in determination. “I will get you that heart.”

“Tony Stark is probably dead. There is no one to do the transplant now.” Dark Castiel said in frustration, looking away from him.

“Then we will force the Tony Stark of this world to do it.” He growled in pure anger at that. “I will force him to cut open his own friend and take his heart in his hands.”

With that, he turned and marched out of the room with purpose.

***

“Where are we on locating their battleship?”

Steve asked, eyes trained on Tony and Charlie as they all gathered in one of the intact rooms in the penthouse.

A frustrated Dean was standing next to an exhausted looking Castiel, supporting him even as the angel flat out refused to sit down and rest.

Next to them, Charles sat down on a chair, looking pained and exhausted, reaching his limits with his still adjusting legs, Erik next to him taking his hand in both of his as he watched him with concern. 

Tony was staring intently at his tablet, working fiercely, ignoring how tired he was. Charlie next to him with her lap top. Sam and Natasha leaned against each other, but remained sanding despite their obvious fatigue. Everyone else stood around in the room looking wiped out but stared at Steve with attention.

Honestly, Steve himself was beyond exhausted. Physically and emotionally, but they could never relax with those last remaining doppelgangers still out there. So, they were forced to deal with this despite their fatigue.

“The data we gathered indicates it is in the vicinity of New York.” Charlie reported to Steve’s earlier question, not looking up from her lap top.

“Which also indicates that Dark Castiel isn’t long for this world.” Tony added with a deep frown on his face.

“Which means that this world isn’t long for this world.” Dean added helpfully with a frustrated look and a frown Castiel’s way, who gave him a raised, stubborn eyebrow in response.

“Well, failure is not an option.” Steve said firmly, eyeing everyone to make sure he had their full attention. “Losing is not an option. We are going to win. And we are going to show these crappy versions of us that this world is ours and it is not so easy to take.”

“Great speech, man.” Clint gave him thumbs up with a grin, as everyone straightened up, looking more alive.

“Sorry to interrupt, Captain, but we are getting a call from an unknown source.” JARVIS, who Tony just brought back online, announced.

They all stared at each other, probably all knowing who this call might be.

“Put it on, Jay.” Tony ordered as they all gathered together, just when a hologram of Dark Dean appeared in the middle of the room.

“What do you want?” Dean demanded harshly, as they all glared hard at the dark king.

“To offer a truce.” Dark Dean announced coldly, looking them down with obvious disdain on his face.

“In exchange for what?” Erik raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“We will leave this world. Peacefully.” Dark Dean started icily, eyeing Dean and Castiel with the corner of his eyes. “If you meet my one demand. Your Castiel will come with us.”

Dean and Erik pointedly pushed Castiel back when he tried to step forward, obviously to do something stupid. When the angel was about to protest, he was pulled further back by a frustrated Sam and Charles.

Steve eyed Castiel for a few seconds, before turning back to the hologram with a stubborn firm, glare.

“Here’s the difference between our world and yours.” Steve started, taking a step forward to stare down the king. “Here, we don’t abandon our friends. So, we will see you in the battlefield.”

With that, he ended the call.

A few seconds in silence, before anybody said anything.

“I could have just gone with them and ended all th-“ Castiel started in frustration, but then startled a little when every person in the room turned to glare at him sharply.

“We said you are not going anywhere, why are you so desperate to die?!” Dean shouted angrily, making Charles and Bruce flinch a little at the sharpness of his voice.

“I am not desperate to die! I am not very fond of any unnecessary death that might happen in battle, if we have an easier solution to avoid it.” Castiel snapped back, looking equally frustrated.

“Letting them carve your heart out is the easier solution now?” Tony raised an eyebrow at him, overwhelmed with Castiel’s logic.

“My life is not worth-“

“Cas? Shut up.” Steve smiled sweetly at him, with a certain dangerous edge to it, that Castiel just raised an eyebrow at, before sighing in defeat at the force of everyone’s glare.

“Fine. What is your plan then?” Castiel muttered, allowing Dean to pull him towards him in apology for his earlier outburst.

Steve trailed his eyes over his team, who was looking back at him expectantly, obviously all decided to just lean on him for now. Charles was standing up stubbornly, ignoring the fact that his legs were probably shaking from exhaustion and Erik’s glares. Castiel was pulling himself to his full height, not paying any mind to Dean’s worried looks. Tony looked exhausted, but determined. Sam and Natasha looking angry with resolve. The rest of the team seemed to be ready to do anything to end this mess.

“Alright, I have a plan. Hopefully, it will be enough.” Steve started taking a deep breath, before telling them.

***

Chaos started in New York City, as the AUers’ battleship appeared in the middle of the sky and started to shoot lasers at anything and everything. The streets filled with black soldiers, marching forward with the masked king in the lead, shooting at any passerby that was unfortunate to be in the streets at the time. People running for their lives everywhere.

The cops made a siege and started to shoot at the army, who was shooting back just as violently.

“Let them run.” Dark Castiel growled viciously, leading the battleship himself, as it flew through the city. “We will turn this city into a mausoleum.”

In the middle of the chaos, a Quinjet flew through the sky, from it jumped Team ground control, who landed right into the middle of the chaos, led by Steve.

The moment the dark king saw them, he directed the army towards them.

The team, involving Dean, Natasha, Clint, the Hulk, Hank, Logan and led by Steve, took their positions as the army marched towards them.

“Widow, Hawkeye, clear the civilians.” Steve ordered as they started to run towards the marching army. “Hulk, Beast and Logan, lower their numbers as much as you could. Righteous Man-“

“I will deal with Fucker me.” Dean finished for him with a growl, as he eyed his doppelganger.

“Hit them as hard as you can. Don’t die.” 


	28. Chapter 28

The streets were in chaos.

The black army was in a vicious, unrelenting fight with the Avengers, X-Men and the Winchesters.

Clint and Natasha struggled tirelessly to keep the soldiers from attacking any civilian, while clearing the mentioned civilians out of the crossfire.

Steve was fighting his way through the army with his shield, bringing down as much soldiers as he could, to lower the pressure on the rest of his team.

Logan, Hank and the Hulk fought viciously with the seemingly endless army.

All while all of them were trying to avoid the attacks of the relentless warship, led by the angry Dark Angel.

Meanwhile, Dean had managed to hunt down Dark Dean, jumping on him with all his might.

“You think you can face me?” Dark Dean taunted; sarcasm obvious from his voice from behind his mask.

“Oh, Fucker, I am not letting anyone else deal with you except me.” Dean snarled before attacking.

As Steve jumped away from a relentless attack from the warship, he growled into his comm.

“We could use a little help down there, Tony!”

***

“I got you covered, babe.” Tony announced from his place inside the Quinjet, Charles beside him, Charlie and Sam with tablets behind him.

He started to chase down the battleship, shooting at it until he made it flew up towards the sky with him chasing behind it.

“Hey, Charles, don’t you think this is just like Star Raiders on Atari, except it’s real?” Tony laughed loudly, as he chased the warship and shot it.

“Focus, Red 2, and fly the ship.” Charles retorted with a pointed raised eyebrow towards Tony.

“Launching torpedo one!” he shouted gleefully, as he pressed a few buttons to release two missiles.

“You don’t have to say it out loud!”

The missiles hit the warship, but caused no apparent damage, like nothing had happened.

“Okay, guys, is it just me or is this not working?” Sam said in frustration, glaring at the warship nervously.

“It’s not working.” Tony and Charles said together in equal frustration.

“We need to take down their shields.” Charlie announced with a frown down her tablet.

***

Down the street, Rhodey, Sam Wilson and Bucky joined the fight by dropping down in the middle of the chaos.

“What took you so long?” Natasha asked in frustration when Bucky landed next to her, knocking down a soldier, that was about to shoot Clint in the back, who was busy carrying a couple of children out of the way.

“We had to make a detour. The sky is in chaos, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Bucky answered, indicating the fight between the Quinjet and the warship.

Rhodey and Sam flew through the fighting army, shooting back at them, clearing a path to Steve, who was having a vicious fight with a tank, and avoiding the harsh fight between the two Deans.

***

“Guys, this is really not working.” Charlie announced in frustration, as Tony kept attacking the battleship with no progress. “I think we need a bigger gun.”

“Way ahead of you.” Sam smirked beside her, when everyone turned to him, he grinned. “I already sent a big gun towards them.”

***

“General, we have got inbound.”

A soldier rushed to report to Dark Castiel on the bridge of the warship.

“Then fire counter measures.” Dark Castiel answered coldly, as he turned to the soldier, looking at him like he was an idiot.

“We can’t.” the soldier swallowed nervously from the dark, cold look directed at him, eyes shifting towards something behind the dark angel. “It’s hovering directly off our bow.”

Dark Castiel’s eyes widened, before turning sharply towards the bow, to see a winged Castiel hovering outside, looking smug.

“General, would you care to step outside?” Castiel called out with a raised eyebrow and a taunting smile. “Or are you too weak to put up a fight?”

Dark Castiel growled in anger, before releasing his wings and flew right towards the glass, breaking it to pieces as he charged towards Castiel and up to the sky.

***

“Waiting for some good news here.”

Tony called out impatiently, as he chased down the warship.

“I don’t have any for you, man! The only way to take out their shields is to get someone onboard that ship.” Charlie reported anxiously, her fingers flying on the tablet.

“Erik?” Charles called through the comms expectantly, proving that he had sent the order a while ago.

“We are on our way.” Came Erik’s firm answer through the comms.

***

Clutching to Thor as he flew through the sky and towards the warship, Erik and Raven hang on for dear life.

When they became directly above the ship, Erik looked up at Thor.

“We will take it from here.” He called out firmly to the demigod. “You go back up Castiel.”

“Alright, don’t get yourselves killed.” Thor nodded at them, before they released their grip and land on top the warship, then he flew away towards the fighting angels.

Erik and Raven crashed through the broken front glass, to land directly inside the bridge.

Only to be faced with over fifteen, startled soldiers.

Erik and Raven exchanged a fast nod, before charging.

Erik started by disarming the soldiers with his powers, then Raven jumped to take them down, while he threw around the stolen guns, bringing down the soldiers efficiently.

Under less than a minute, they were the only two standing in the bridge.

“We are on the bridge, Charlie.” Raven called out in the comms, as they both rushed towards the control panel.

“But we don’t know what we are looking for.” Erik added with a frown, as he eyed the hundreds of buttons and controllers. 

***

“Yeah, yeah, I am working on it.” Charlie said hurriedly, working fast as she sent codes over to Sam to look over it. “I got it!”

“Alright, Guys, I am sending you the source code for their defector shield.” Sam announced, as he checked the codes, before sending them to the infiltration team. 

***

“Yeah, got it, manual override protocol.” Raven nodded at the data being sent to her, working out the steps carefully. “If I am reading this correctly, all we need to do now is-“

“-Hit the big blinking red button.” Erik finished as he eyed the said button, marching towards it to press it firmly.

They both heard a whirring sound fill the room.

***

“Got it! Shields are down!”

Sam announced with a grin, looking over at the two geniuses at the front.

“Charles, you think you can handle this bad boy?” Tony said hurriedly, getting out of the pilot chair to push Charles in it instead.

“Sure, like walking in the park.” Charles answered nervously, before looking up at him. “Where are you going?”

“Getting your husband and sister off that ship.” Tony answered firmly, pressing his arc reactor to let his suit cover him, before opening the ceiling door. “Count to ten, hit them with everything we have got.”

“You got it, just be fast.” Charles nodded back at him, biting his lower lip in worry, as Tony nodded at him and flew right out of the ceiling.

***

The fight between Castiel and Dark Castiel was getting too violent as they hit each other with all their might.

That increased when Thor charged right into the fight, sending Dark Castiel flying, who only growled in increasing frustration at his two enemies.

“You could have avoided all that, if you just surrendered your heart.” The Dark angel shouted angrily at his doppelganger.

Castiel exchanged a smirk with Thor, before they both turned to the Dark Castiel.

“Apparently, my heart is not just my own to give.” Castiel just shrugged with a smirk.

“How unfortunate for you.” Thor added smugly, rolling his hammer in his hands to keep himself elevated.

Dark Castiel yelled in anger, before charging at them.

***

Charles counted to ten, then hesitated when Tony still didn’t make an appearance.

“Come on, Tony. I hope you got them out.” Charles whispered under his breath, before starting the attack on the warship.

He flew over the warship, raining down lasers on it with all he got, watching as the ship went into flames right before his eyes.

He didn’t stop shooting, until he saw the ship explode in the middle of the air.

His heart bounded in his chest as he exchanged looks with Sam and Charlie’s equally wide eyes, as a certain Iron Man still didn’t make an appearance.

They all practically melted in relief, when Tony landed right from the opened ceiling, carrying a frowning Erik and an ecstatic Raven.

“Wow, Big Brain, you really know how to release your frustrations.” Tony laughed loudly as his helmet disappeared from around his head, looking proud, as he took his place back on the pilot seat.

“I have a lot of pent-up frustrations.” Charles retorted with a smile, as Erik moved to pull him into his arms happily. As Raven was tackled with an enthusiastic hug from Charlie.

“You are becoming quite the badass, Schatz. Soon you won’t be needing me anymore.” Erik murmured with a proud smile, placing a quick kiss to Charles’ lips.

“Don’t be an idiot. I will always need you.” Charles grinned up at him in delight, exchanging another kiss.

“Alright, kissy faces, we are not done yet.” Tony announced with a smirk as he flew them down to the battle still raging on the ground. “We still need to deal with the king and the dark angel.”


	29. Chapter 29

After bringing down two tanks, Steve stopped to try taking a deep breath and a look around the battlefield for the statues of his team.

For a moment he couldn’t spot anyone, before he could panic, Falcon flew right beside him, knocking down a trail of soldiers, followed by War Machine dealing with a tank.

Then he spotted Clint, Natasha and Bucky aggressively and with increasing frustration dealing with a particular tough group of soldiers.

When he turned around, he saw Dean and Dark Dean on top of a car, engaged in a fight filled with pure rage and loudly shouted obscenities, mainly from their own Dean.

Like planned, SHIELD had joined the fight earlier, which made things go a lot smoother as he saw Maria Hill and Phil Coulson lead their teams through the fight.

As he tried to figure out who he should go help, the warship exploded in the sky. He looked up with a proud smile on his face, as he saw his husband fly through the air with the two mutants, towards the Quinjet.

His thoughts were interrupted when a group of soldiers thought it was a good idea to attack him.

***

Castiel was charging again at the Dark angel with full speed.

Then suddenly, Dark Castiel grabbed the sides of his head and screamed in tortured pain, body twisting and spasming in the middle of the air.

Castiel and Thor froze as they stared at the tortured Angel in confused panic.

***

“Fuck! I am detecting a dangerously high radiation levels!” Sam exclaimed in panic as he stared down at the tablet. “Dark Castiel is about to go supernova!”

“Cas! Your doppelganger is about to have a meltdown!” Tony yelled through the comms, willing himself not to panic.

***

Castiel watched with wide eyes as his doppelganger started to glow a dangerous shade of red, as his screams got louder and the air around them started to feel like static.

“What do I do?!” Castiel yelled back through the comms, unable to take his eyes off the disaster right in front of him.

***

“You need to fly him up! Up! And away!” Tony exclaimed, as everyone in the Quinjet got to their feet in rising panic. “Now!”

“And get away from him as fast as you possibly could!” Sam added frantically, worry and panic paralyzing him. 

***

Dark Castiel resembled now a small sun from how hard he was glowing.

Castiel exchanged a quick look with Thor, before flying towards his doppelganger in determination.

“Castiel, no, wait!” he ignored Thor’s shout, as he grabbed the dying angel and flew up, up towards the sky as fast as he could.

On the ground, Steve’s eyes widened as he saw Castiel fly with a glowing angel in his arms, hoping that Dean wasn’t seeing the same thing to not get distracted in the middle of his relentless fight.

With everyone’s heart banging in their chests in anticipation, they all jumped when the explosion happened, high up in the sky away from everything.

***

At the sound of the supernova explosion, Dark Dean turned sharply towards the sky.

“No!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, his mask falling down, revealing his wide, horrified eyes, as he fell to his knees in despair. 

After a moment of pure shock as what happened sunk in, a look of pure rage contorted Dark Dean’s face.

“I am going to kill you!” he screamed as he turned around.

Only to freeze, with a bullet hole in his forehead, Dean’s eyes looking back at him from behind his gun.

Dean watched his doppelganger’s eyes lose their light as he fell backwards to hit the top of the car they were on, shocked dead eyes, staring up at the sky.

Dean took a step forward to look down at him, unsure how to feel.

“I really hope the two of you meet in hell.” He whispered to the dead body, feeling hollow inside.

His eyes turned up to the sky then, to see the effects of the explosion still apparent in the sky.

“Guys, just out of curiosity.” He said in forced calmness into the comms, eyes glued to the sky. “Who is the unlucky bastard, who flew the supernova angel to the sky to explode in peace?”

He was met with silence, which did nothing but to increase the dread spreading through him, already knowing the answer.

“Guys, come on, I know you all can hear me. I promise I won’t yell too much.” He tried again, hands already shaking in pent up panic and worry.

His eyes fell down to the battlefield, only to see Steve’s very pale face looking back at him, before looking back towards the sky.

That’s when he saw a prone winged figure, falling out of the sky.

***

Castiel was very aware that he was falling. He was aware that if he kept falling, he will eventually meet ground and that will be very unpleasant.

He was also aware that he could do nothing about it. His wings were mostly burned from being too close to the explosion, unable to get away fast enough, so he was pretty much fast falling towards the ground.

Dean will be so mad if he hit it.

Well, at least he wasn’t dead. That at least could give him a few pointers to avoid the hunter’s unavoidable wrath.

As he was mulling this over, he suddenly felt himself being caught in the middle of the air by two metallic arms.

Startled, he opened his eyes to find himself staring at the metallic face of Iron Man, with Thor hovering next to them in worry.

“Hey, Thor, look! It’s raining men!” Tony’s amused grin was evident even without seeing his face, which brought an involuntarily smile on Castiel’s own. 

“How are you feeling, Castiel?” Thor asked in worry, wincing at the state of Castiel’s wings.

“I am having what you are calling a very bad week.” Castiel answered with a groan, acutely feeling every burned place in his body and wings.

“More like a bad year. You saw two versions of you die a very gruesome deaths in one year. That couldn’t be pretty.” Tony quipped helpfully, as he started to fly him down towards the ground.

“Thank you, Tony. That’s exactly what I need to hear right now.” Castiel rolled his eyes with a frown at the armored genius.

“I am guessing you have lost your comms. Otherwise, you would be hearing Dean’s increasingly loud shouts and obscenities like me right now. I think he is trying to melt everyone’s ears off at the moment.” Tony groaned while Thor winced, as apparently Dean’s shouting increased.

“Dean, you promised you won’t shout too loudly.” Thor commented miserably, wincing again, indicating that his words made Dean even angrier.

Castiel just chuckled with a shake of his head, letting his eyes close for a moment until they reach the ground.

***

By the time Tony had landed in the street with Castiel in his arms and Thor beside him, the black army had been defeated. Losing the moment their king and general fell.

Immediately, he was surrounded by the team on the ground, who rushed fast towards them.

“Is he alright? Cas, are you alright?” Steve was the first to reach them, looking in panic at the angel’s burned wings and body.

Before the angel could answer, Dean was there in the next second, managing to look both angry and scared shitless.

“Cas! You fucking, stupid-“ the words pretty much choked in Dean’s throat, as he took the angel from Tony’s arms into his, lowering him carefully to the ground, eyes flying over every inch of the angel so fast, that Tony feared they might fall out.

“I am fine. Dean, I am fine.” Castiel tried to reassure the hunter, as the rest of the team rushed to them and were surrounding them. “It is already healing. I am fine.”

“Fucking hell, Cas! I told you to fly away from the explosion!” Sam’s voice made them all jump as the tall Winchester practically sprinted towards them, followed by Charlie, Erik, Charles and Raven.

“No, my idiot doesn’t fly away from explosions. Apparently, he hugs them and fly them to the sky!” Dean yelled at Castiel’s face, while at the same time pulling the angel tightly to his chest.

“Only Dean Winchester can pull off being angry as hell and worried as fuck at the same time.” Steve commented in barley hidden amusement, making the others struggle to hold back their laughter, as Dean looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

“Dean, I am fine.” Castiel reassured again, taking Dean’s hand gently in his. “Really.”

Dean stared at him for a second, before deflating suddenly and pulled the angel tightly into his arms. Making everyone look down at the two of them with soft smiles on their faces.

“Guys, we just won.” Natasha announced with wide eyes, looking at them as they all just realized the same thing as well. “Do you realize what does that mean?”

“We can have a Midgardian Wedding now!” Thor hollered in a loud voice that rang through the city.


	30. Chapter 30

Leaving all the cleanup to SHIELD, the team diverted their attention to fix their violated home.

Leading the clean up party, Tony focused on guiding the team to make the tower livable again.

Surprisingly, Castiel _was_ actually fine. It seemed his grace almost exploding a few months ago, had actually made it stronger than before. So, he was healing pretty quickly, just no flying for him for a while, since the damage to his wings was a lot worse than the one to his body.

Dean, obviously, wasn’t convinced. So, the cleanup was also involving a constant bickering between Dean and Castiel, with the hunter trying to force the angel to take a break and rest, while the angel kept insisting that he was fucking fine. Yes, the angel was rendered to swearing when his husband insisted on not listening. Steve had gathered a fortune from him in the Swear Jar.

As for Charles and Erik, there state wasn’t much different, with Erik insisting that Charles stay off his feet for a while until the wedding is back on, but the telepath was refusing to stay still, considering surrendering to his pained legs and back an insult to his pride, which absolutely drove Erik crazy. 

It was actually very amusing. Dean and Erik only can show their love properly with being worried constantly like a pair of mama bears. Unfortunately for them, their baby bears were too stubborn and hard headed to relent most of the time.

Sam and Natasha had also reached a high level of frustration, because of their postponed wedding and their forced separation in two different worlds, so while they cleaned up, they kept grunting and growling angrily like bears at anyone who remotely got close to them.

Sam Wilson and Bucky’s fights were actually the most amusing, they always have been, but it increased since the moment Bucky returned from the other world. It was their way of showing their worry for the other, but they will never admit to that.

Thor and Bruce, well, they were fine actually. Probably because they were the only couple who didn’t get brutally separated in all of this. They had been together the entire time, so basically, they only argue right now about how Thor should not use his hammer to cook dinner with lightening anymore and the demigod was insisting that he was getting the hang of it.

Clint was probably the only smug one, enjoying being single as he watched with deep amusement as the couples bickered, while he was as free as a bird with no restraints. He made the mistake of saying those words loudly once, gaining very decent glares and death threats in the process.

Luckily, whatever those AUers had injected Steve with, was finally out of his system, so he had the stamina to interject in these loud arguments, before any couple murders their significant other accidently.

It was hilarious, to watch them bicker all day, then the moment they go to bed, they cling to each other rather loudly. They were all officially old married couples and Steve was loving it. 

Him and Tony weren’t fighting as much, since neither of them were injured or overcoming newly healed paralysis. So, currently they watch on with wide eyed amusement and at night, they pretend they don’t hear the others, as they go at it themselves desperately.

It was probably the number of times they got brutally separated in the past months, but Tony and Steve were actually handling what happened pretty well. Even Castiel and Dean, who were more concerned with Castiel being too close to the supernova explosion, more than being separated in two different worlds.

The others were probably still getting used to have that done to them, but Steve thinks that the four of them managed to be more immune to it. Probably because they were now more convinced than ever that no matter how long they get separated, they will always find their way to each other and fight tooth and nail to achieve it.

Being separated by body swapping, time travel, soldiers loving monsters, a portal to a shadow world and demonic possession would do that eventually. If they don’t become immune and trust the other to come back, they would have gone crazy by now.

Erik and Charles were half way there already, but not as strongly as the four, more misfortunate ones, who dealt with that more than usual lately.

On the bright side, Raven and Charlie were fine. More than fine actually. Directly after the battle, Charlie had accidently blurted her love to Raven loudly in front of them. After a stunned silence that continued for three seconds, Raven shouted back her own declaration of love and they just proceeded to hug and laugh loudly in the middle of the street, much to the others amusement and warmed hearts.

Now, with Tony ramming into him from behind with abandon, Steve could only feel blessed about being here, after what they all just went through, with no one of their family lost. They almost did a few times, but it seemed like luck was on their side this time.

When they both let out a particularly loud moan as they came together, with Tony’s lips pressing kisses to his neck, they finally collapsed on the bed in a heap.

After they caught their breath, Steve rolled on his back and wrapped an arm around Tony, as he snuggled close to rest his head on his chest.

“So, I heard from Dean that you made quite the impression on AU Steve.” Steve started with a soft grin, looking down at his husband.

“Oh, that. Uhm, yeah, you could say that.” Tony answered a little hesitantly, burying his face into Steve’s neck.

“Apparently, every version of me will fall for your big brown eyes.” Steve couldn’t help but tease him lightly, making Tony’s face flush red and smack him on the arm half-heartedly.

“I am still having a hard time believing that.” The genius admitted softly, trailing a finger on Steve’s chest. “I mean, my version in that world literally ruined his life, took everything from him and fucking raped him. Seriously, how after all that he can- I mean, how can he-Fucking hell, Steve, all your versions are dumbasses.” 

“I will neither deny or confirm that sentence.” Steve laughed, before pulling him closer to his chest and placed a kiss to his forehead. “Thank you, Tony. For being there for every version of me.”

Tony moved to look up at him, face flaming a little, before hiding it into Steve’s chest again.

“Dumbass.” He muttered half-heartedly, making Steve chuckle.

They laid in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the other’s solid presence.

“I watched myself die.” Tony murmured quietly, breaking the silence. His sentence made Steve look down at him, waiting for him to continue. “I know he was nothing like me. We just look like each other, but I don’t know why the image wasn’t leaving my mind. Watching that Erik ripping the arc reactor from that Tony’s chest. This is going to be in my nightmares for a long time.”

He sighed as he moved up to rest his head on the pillow to lay side by side next to him.

“I don’t know how Castiel handled seeing a version of himself die before.” He continued, voice hollow and distant. “If things were different, I could have been the one to die by Erik’s hands.”

“Alright, stop just stop.” Steve couldn’t just sit and listen anymore. He moved to meet Tony’s startled eyes directly. “That version got what he deserved. You would never hurt Charles or me the way that man did. He was deranged. Beyond help. You are nothing like him and you will never be. He was weak and didn’t fight the darkness in him, he just embraced it. Don’t you ever get it in your head that you could have been him at any point.”

Tony just kept looking at him, startled by his outburst, before letting a small smile appear on his lips.

“It feels nice to be with my own Steve again.” Tony murmured with an affectionate smile, raising a hand to cup Steve’s face gently. “I could see all the Steves in the multi-verse, but I will only be yours and you mine.”

“I know.” Steve grinned at him, turning his head to place a soft kiss to his palm. “I know, Tony.”

***

In the rebuilt living room, Erik was sitting on a couch besides Dean, watching Charles nervously in the kitchen, after the telepath insisted he was more than capable to make sandwiches for them without exploding the kitchen, determined to make Erik sit down and do nothing but care for his injury.

Angel was sleeping by their feet, looking happy to be home.

Castiel was sitting on the kitchen table, reading over a paper with a deep frown and sending withering looks Dean’s way every few minutes.

“What’s Castiel reading that is making him murder you with his eyes?” Erik couldn’t resist his curiosity anymore, as he sent a confused look at Dean.

Dean looked up from what he was writing to grin smugly at him.

“He is reading the first part of my Best Man speech.” He announced proudly, seeming to be enjoying Castiel’s glares and his quiet muttering under his breath. “He is proofreading it for any typos or misspellings.”

“Why would that make him so frustrated and why are you so smug?” Erik’s confusion increased, eyeing Charles from the corner of his eyes when he started to walk over them with a plate.

“Well, you can say my speech is not exactly the loving, proud big brother type.” Dean answered, looking too proud of himself.

“Why?” Charles was the one to ask that, as he dropped himself on the couch between them with a plate of sandwiches in his hands.

“Each one of you is an only child. You will never understand the pleasure of embarrassing your sibling on their wedding day.” Dean just laughed as he continued to write what must be the rest of his speech. “Sam knows that. He is mentally trying to prepare himself for it. Cas, meanwhile, is not amused.”

“The brotherly love between you and your brother is overwhelming me.” Erik rolled his eyes, just when Castiel cursed in a foreign language at something in the speech, making Dean snort in delight.

Charles then handed each of Erik and Dean a sandwich, then watched expectantly for them to take the first bite.

It was horrible. Erik had no idea how his husband managed to ruin a sandwich, but he did it in a spectacular way.

He held himself back from showing his revulsion on his face by the first bite, since Charles was watching his expression expectantly. He just chewed and made himself swallow the abomination in his mouth to turn to his husband with a grateful smile.

“It’s delicious, My Love. Thank you.” Erik placed a kiss to Charles’ temple.

Dean, on the other hand, was struggling to swallow the hefty bite he took, a look of pure disgust was taking over his face, that immediately vanished into a smile when Charles turned to look at him next, Erik sending him a warning glare over his husband’s head.

“Yum!” Dean only managed to say through his full mouth, struggling even more to swallow. Castiel was watching the whole thing, eyeing Dean with deep amusement on his face.

The both of them finished their sandwiches, forcing themselves to let out sounds that suggests their enjoyment for Charles’ culinary arts. Charles was silent the whole time, watching them both with a small smile.

After the last forced swallow, Charles finally spoke up.

“I guess you both forgot that I am a telepath, but I appreciate the effort anyway.” He teased them with a smile, relaxing back against the couch smugly as both Erik and Dean sat back with matching groans. Castiel’s soft laughter filled the room at their misfortune.

“Why are you laughing at my misery?” Dean raised an eyebrow at his husband, only managing to make him laugh again.

“You were laughing at mine a few minutes ago.” Castiel retorted, raising an eyebrow pointedly at the paper in his hand. “Seriously, Dean, do you hate your brother?”

“Hey, my speech is a piece of art. I have been waiting for this moment my whole life!”

“Waiting to kill your brother from embarrassment on his wedding day?”

“That is the best death he could ever dream of and you know it.”

“You are right, their brotherly love is overwhelming.” Charles said with a laugh, absentmindedly taking a bite from a sandwich, that immediately made him grimace. “My God, this is disgusting, why would you ever eat that? God!”

He moved to go and throw the sandwiches away, while Erik and Dean turned to look at each other with a miserable, but amused looks on their faces.

“See? This is why we don’t let them into the kitchen.” Dean accused with a pointed look.

Erik could do nothing but agree with all his heart. 

***

A few days later, everyone in the Tower was woken up abruptly in the same way.

By an over excited Sam Winchester crashing into every room and shouting at the top of his lungs in joy, not caring if he saw any compromising positions between the couples, he was practically blind by excitement at this point.

Dean was violently woken up by his brother crashing into his and Castiel’s room, ignoring the fact that they were both very naked.

“I am getting married today!” Sam yelled in joy, his huge frame vibrating in excitement. “I am getting married. Today!”

With that, he ran to crash into the next room, which were Tony and Steve’s.

Dean and Castiel stared at each other sleepily as they heard Steve and Tony’s startled shouts and Sam’s yell again, before the younger Winchester moved on to another room.

They shrugged at each other, before moving to lay back on the bed again to get a few more minutes of sleep.

Apparently, Sam was determined that they all wake up, because he appeared in the doorway again.

“I am getting married today!” he screamed with a crazed grin, then ran away fast before Dean managed to hit him with the book he threw at him with a loud curse.

“Language!” came Steve’s own shout from the next room.

“I am getting married today!”

“I am living with crazy people.” Dean growled into Castiel’s chest, which was vibrating from the force of the angel’s laughter.


	31. Chapter 31

Sam was staring at himself in the mirror, effectively freaking out.

Today was his wedding. His wedding was today. In fact, it was fucking _now_.

They were all in the small venue they choose for the wedding, where he and Natasha insisted to get married at, completely ignoring Tony’s suggestions of booking them something fancier or more expensive.

It was a lovely venue, surrounded by a nice garden and suited them just fine, they didn’t want anything fancy or overly flashy anyway.

Right now, he was staring hard at his reflection in the mirror in his room. Managing to make himself go into a full-blown panic attack.

“My hair is all wrong!” He repeated frantically for the hundredth time. Convinced that his hair looked like a hobo’s hair.

“Your hair is fine! I have been telling you this a hundred times in the past hour!” Dean was on the verge of ripping his own hair off by now from frustration, having to deal with Sam’s freak out all morning.

“Then if it is not my hair, then a dragon! A dragon will crash the wedding and burn us alive!”

“Sure, because you and Nat are getting married in freaking Hogwarts!”

“Are you sure your doppelganger is dead dead? Not Winchester dead? Did you make sure to burn his body?!”

“Oh, God.” Dean groaned as he covered his face with his hands, feeling a headache starting to make itself known. “Yes, I burned the bastard’s body. There will be no dragons or doppelgangers! Just please, relax!”

“Then it is my hair! I need to fix my hair!” Sam turned to grab an electric razor, just when the door opened to reveal Tony and Erik.

Before either Dean or Tony could react, Sam had effectively shaved his head from the middle in his panic, with Dean and Tony’s horrified screams sounding behind him.

***

“How do you think Sam is doing?” Natasha asked from behind the partition in her room, where she was putting on her dress. 

She was directing the question at the occupants of the room, including Steve, Clint, Charlie and Raven. Pepper was walking around the entire venue, making sure that everything was in place and ready.

“I will go check on him, but I am sure he is doing just fine.” Steve shrugged as he made his way towards the door.

But before he could leave, Natasha emerged fully dressed in her wedding dress, making everyone in the room stop and stare at her breathlessly.

“Wow.” Steve’s eyes widened as he stared at her in awe like everyone else, from how stunning she looked.

“I know.” Natasha grinned at him, as she turned to a mirror, obviously liking what she was seeing. “I never thought I will look good in white!”

“I never thought I will see you in white.” Clint snorted, making her turn a sharp glare at him, while Steve just chuckled as he turned to leave to check on Sam.

On his way, he ran into Charles, so they walked together to Sam’s room. But when they approached, they heard the panicked yelling inside that made the both of them frown.

After exchanging a confused look, they opened the door to find the weirdest sight they ever laid eyes on.

A panicked Sam, with his hair half shaved. Dean and Tony frantically moving around the room, trying to find a way to hide his hair, while Erik stood in a corner, staring at Sam’s head with an obvious grimace.

“That can’t be good.” Charles winced at the scene, as everyone turned to look at them with wide eyes.

“What the hell happened?!” Steve exclaimed in horror, unable to take his eyes off of Sam’s hair, knowing that it was not a good time to burst out laughing.

“Uhm, just a slight panic attack that went horribly wrong.” Tony sighed, while pinching the bridge of his nose nervously.

“How are we going to fix this? I can’t go out there like this?!” Sam practically yelled, as he stared at a mirror in panic.

“Well, you were expecting a disaster, so here you go.” Erik commented helpfully, making every eye in the room turn to him with a sharp glare. “What? Just pointing out the irony.”

“Timing, Darling. Know your timing.” Charles sighed with a shake of his head.

“Cas! Cas will be able to fix it!” Dean announced suddenly, with renewed hope.

“You think he will be able to grow back hair?” Tony raised a skeptic eyebrow at that.

“No, you are right, the guy managed to grow back an entire arm, but he won’t be able to grow back some hair.” Dean rolled his eyes so hard, that they almost fell out of his head.

Tony frowned at him, while Erik watched on in amusement, as Sam started to look more hopeful.

“Okay, I will go look for Cas. You stay here and make sure that he doesn’t do any other disaster.” Steve said, giving Sam a very pointed look, that made the taller man look down in shame. “Try not to kill each other, until I come back.”

***

Castiel stared dumbly at Sam, trying to understand what he was looking at.

He was in the middle of a conversation with Bobby and Judy, who were practically jittering in excitement for the wedding, when Steve came up to him with a too big smile.

The moment he saw that smile, he immediately knew that something was wrong. As Steve excused them smoothly, Castiel’s mind reeled from the possibilities.

Did one of the doppelgangers survived? Was there a new threat? Alien invasion? Demon attack? The place was haunted by a vengeful spirit?

What he did not expect was to find himself staring at a half bald Sam Winchester, staring at him sheepishly with crazy, panicked eyes.

He tried. He really, really tried to keep it in, but after a few seconds of stunned silence, he burst out laughing.

The sound startled everyone in the room, but he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. He just laughed as he stared at the miserable Winchester in front of him.

After a few seconds of the others staring at him in shock, Dean started laughing as well, body bent over from the force of his laughter, apparently a dam had broken inside him.

Soon, Steve and Tony joined in helplessly, while Charles chuckled softly, trying not make it worse. Erik just grinned in deep amusement.

Sam was staring at all of them with a betrayed look, that only lasted for a few minutes, before bursting out in laughter as well, getting infected with their own uncontrollable laughter.

“The only day I manage to make Castiel laugh this hard is today. Just my luck.” Sam let out between his laughter with a shake of his head.

“I am sorry. I am sorry.” Castiel apologized, but still kept laughing away. “It’s just I came here expecting world domination, only to-“ he couldn’t finish as another bout of laughter hit him.

“Oh, God, I can’t breathe.” Dean wheezed, as he fell to his knees from the force of his glee.

“Please, tell me you can fix this.” Steve said while he was trying to control his laughter, while Tony just sat to try to calm himself.

“No.” Castiel answered easily, successfully managing to make the entire room freeze and turn to him with wide panicked eyes, before he snorted, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist seeing this look in your eyes. Yes, I can fix it.”

“God, being around Dean made you mean. I like it.” Erik grinned at him, while the others sagged in relief with nervous chuckles.

“I want to be mad, but I am too busy being so proud.” Dean wiggled his eyebrows at his husband, giving him a wink.

“Thank you.” Castiel just smiled at him, before turning to the emotionally abused Sam. “Now give me your head, let’s see what I can do.”

***

“Don’t you think that Steve took a little too long to come back?” Natasha wondered with a frown, finally noticing that no one of the married couples were seen for a while.

“Relax, it’s not like Sam will suddenly decide to run away.” Raven tried to reassure her mindlessly, realizing too late that her words only managed to make it worse.

“Why? Do you think he will decide to run away? Maybe this is too much for him. Marrying a Russian Assassin is too much for him.” Natasha started to ramble under her breath, making everyone stare at her in shock.

“Are you freaking out? You?!” Clint stared at her in pure shock, not knowing what to do in this rare occasion.

“I am not freaking out. Why? Do you think I should freak out?” Natasha’s too wide eyes stared at him, making Clint fear for his life.

“Do you need a drink? I will get you a drink.” With that he stood up, ready to bolt.

“Check on Sam on your way!” he heard Natasha call out behind him.

He made his way down the hall with a sigh, deciding to just pacify her and check on her groom.

He opened the door to Sam’s room without knocking, then stood there as he watched the too crowded room filled with the three married couples, surrounding a half bald Sam, while Castiel was trying to use his grace to fix his hair.

Without making any indication to his appearance, he left the room just as quietly. Deciding that he too needed a drink to be able to tell Natasha that everything was fine, without giving away anything.

***

An hour later, with only a few minutes before the wedding starts, Sam was finally looking proper with a head full of hair and dressed to the tenth.

“It’s really happening.” Sam whispered as he stared into the mirror, looking more awed than panicked now.

“Yeah, Sammy, it’s happening.” Dean was smiling softly at him. Only he, Tony and Castiel remained in the room. The others already left to get ready for the ceremony. “You are getting married, Bitch. I am going to miss your third wheeling days though. It was hilarious.” Castiel just nudged Dean with his elbow with a raised eyebrow that failed to hide his amusement.

“Oh, wow.” Sam blinked at his reflection, feeling a grin overtaking his face. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

“Sorry to interrupt the sweet moment of realization, but I still have no idea what’s my part in the wedding is.” Tony grumbled impatiently, looking to be genuinely upset now about being left out.

Sam’s smile softened as he exchanged a look with Dean and Castiel, but didn’t comment on Tony’s sentence.

Before Tony got aggravated, a knock on the door sounded before it opened to reveal Bucky and Bruce, who were Sam’s other groomsmen.

“Hey, Big Tree, it’s time.” Bucky smiled at him gently, then his eyes trailed towards Tony. “And Tin Man, the bride wants to see you.”

“I hope she isn’t sending for me to help her run away.” Tony rolled his eyes as he got up, making Dean cuff him on the back of his head, while Castiel snorted.

“Try not to jump into helping her right away, maybe try talking to her out of it first.” Sam chuckled nervously, as they all moved to get out of the room.

“No promises, dude.”

***

Tony entered Natasha’s room, after he knocked once.

When he got inside, he found her alone, sitting on the couch and looking expectantly up at him.

He couldn’t help but stare at how absolutely gorgeous she looked, her dress, her hair, her soft make up. The gentle smile on her face.

“Wow, now that what I call beautiful in white.” Tony murmured, not trying to hide the soft smile on his face. “Never thought I will see you in a long flowy dress, Nat.”

“Don’t get used to it. It’s just for the occasion.” Natasha rolled her eyes, before gesturing for him to sit down next to her.

“Why did you ask for me anyway? Getting the jitters?” he asked teasingly as he sat anyway, looking expectantly at her.

“No, I had a slight freak out earlier that ended with Charlie yelling in my face, so I am fine now.” She winced at that, before giving him a small smile. “I asked you here to tell you about your part in the wedding.”

“Finally! I seriously thought you forgot about my existence. Not to mention that all the good spots are already taken.” He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the feeling of excitement that hit him, eager to now his part.

“I just wanted to torture you a little. And not all the spots are taken. There is an important one that still needs to be filled.” She raised an eyebrow at him, before taking his hand gently, Tony blinked at her in surprise and confusion, before she looked at him with the softest look he had ever seen on her face. “Tony, will you walk me down the aisle?”

Tony’s eyes widened as he stared back at her, for a moment he thought that he heard wrong.

“What?” he asked dumbly, trying to make sure that he heard right.

Natasha rolled her eyes fondly, before taking both his hands in hers, as she looked directly into his eyes.

“Will you walk me down the aisle and give me away?” she repeated softly, making sure that he understands every word.

“Really?” he breathed out in disbelieve. His heart beating loudly in his chest in excitement and glee.

“Well, yeah.” She chuckled with a shake of his head. “I don’t have a father. I never did.” Then her face got solemn as she stared down at their hands. “But I have you. Obviously, so you won’t get too cocky, you are not a father figure to me, but you are like an obnoxious big brother.” Her gaze lift to meet his, a soft look in her eyes. “And I would love it if my brother walked me down the aisle.”

Tony felt a dangerous wetness behind his eyes and he blinked hard to try and not cry like an idiot. Feeling warm all over from Natasha’s words and he couldn’t help the smile that took over his face.

“Okay.” He murmured, looking up at Natasha’s eyes softly.

“Okay?” Natasha’s smile widened at that.

“Okay.” He confirmed again, squeezing her hands in his.


	32. Chapter 32

Sam was standing anxiously at the altar, Steve beside him staring at him in amusement remnant from the hair incident earlier. Sam was sure no one, especially his brother, will ever let that incident live down.

His eyes landed on Bobby, who sat in the front row next to Judy, both of them staring at him with fond smiles like proud parents, beside them was Charles and Erik, who also were looking at him with soft looks, that Sam felt himself relax. He was in a room filled with all his loved ones, waiting for his wife-to-be to walk through the doors. There was no reason for him to be worried.

Softly, the music started and the doors opened to reveal Dean and Clint, arm in arm, looking to be uncomfortable as hell at being forced to walk down the aisle like this, but grudgingly doing it. That turn of events was announced by Pepper a few minutes before the wedding, which gave them no enough time to protest, much to everyone’s amusement.

As the two of them started to walk with a grimace like smile on their faces that made Sam and Steve grin like idiots, they were followed by Castiel arm in arm with Charlie, both looking at the two in front of them with barely counseled amusement, followed by Bucky with Raven in all her blue skin glory, then Bruce with Pepper.

The Bridesmaids looked incredibly beautiful in their red dresses that accentuated their respective red hair, and the groomsmen with red ties to complete the elegant look.

Right at the back, Thor appeared with a big smile, dressed in a suit as well, which he was wrestled into by Natasha, since he was planning to show up with some Asgardian’s robes that almost gave the bride a heart attack. In his hands, there was a small, red cushion that held the rings. He followed the small procession.

When they reached the altar, they moved into their positions, Dean clapping Sam on his shoulder with a grin, as he moved to stand behind him with the other groomsmen.

Then the music changed as everyone in the room stood up, eyes trained on the double doors as they opened again.

Revealing the most beautiful sight he ever saw in his life. It’s been three days since he saw Natasha, something about bad luck to see the bride before the wedding and they took it to a whole new level, since they didn’t need to tempt fate.

But it was worth it, as the breath was stolen away from him, when his eyes landed on his soon to be wife, standing in all her white glory, looking even more gorgeous than she already was.

Her arm was tangled with Tony’s, who was grinning beside her as they both started to walk down the aisle. Every eye in the room were locked on them, but Natasha’s were trained on Sam, smiling softly at him the entire way towards the altar.

When they reached them, Tony moved to place a soft kiss to Natasha’s cheek, sent a wink towards Steve, before taking his seat next to Charles in the front row, while Natasha moved to stand before Sam.

“Hi.” She murmured while grinning at him.

“Hey,” he whispered back, unable to remove the huge smile on his face.

Their moment was broken by Angel, who suddenly left Judy’s side to run up to them and wrap himself around Steve’s legs, while staring up at him happily. Managing to make them laugh as they stared down at the small, clingy puppy.

“Well, then. Looks like he wanted to join too.” Steve started with a chuckle, then turned to face the room. “Friends, Family. Dog.” He added with a grin, making everyone chuckle. “Thank you all for being here to join us for this blessed event. I have known these two for a quite some time now, and I cannot imagine two people more perfect for each other. Despite everything that we faced in our hard life, they managed to find happiness in each other. And I know I speak for everyone here, when I wish them a lifetime of happiness.”

Steve’s soft, deep voice washed over everyone, locking them in this sweet moment, as Natasha and Sam kept staring at each other with barely contained grins.

“Rings?” Steve called, looking over at Thor, who immediately stepped forward excitedly to hand over the rings.

Steve then nodded to Natasha to start saying her vows.

She took a deep breath, before looking up at Sam, a smile brightening her face. 

“When I was growing up, I never had a mom or a dad.” She started softly; her gaze focused entirely on Sam. “I never had a family. I was considered an unredeemable monster for almost my whole life. I never thought anyone will ever be able to look past that.” She let out a small laugh then. “But I met a tall, big hearted, puppy like idiot who didn’t care. Who actually didn’t see me as the monster I always thought I was.” She reached over and Sam took her hand gently in his, unable to tear his eyes from her. “But I am standing here today, knowing that I have everything I am ever going to need. You are my family, Sam.”

Everyone practically melted at Natasha’s words, Tony and Charles starting to tear up, while Bobby was rubbing at his eyes. Clint was practically sniffing. As Natasha placed the ring into Sam’s finger.

“Dean, are you crying?” Bucky whispered with a grin at the oldest Winchester.

“Shut up, I am not.” Dean hissed at him while rubbing furiously at his eyes, while a teary eyed Castiel just chuckled and wrapped an arm around him.

Steve grinned at the exchange, before turning to Sam and gave him a nod to start his own vows.

“Natasha, you are the best thing that ever happened to me.” Sam started softly, his hand cradling Natasha’s gently. “My life had always been hard. Bloody. Filled with grief and pain. All that changed when my family met yours. When we all became one family. When I met you. You made my life worth living. Made me realize that it was worth living through the literal hell that was my life, if it led me to meet you.” His free hand raised to cup her face gently, as she stared up at him in awe. “You are the most beautiful, kind, strong person I have ever met. I can’t wait to share the rest of my life with you. To wake up every day to your face. To have you as a sister to Dean and Cas.” He smiled, as his eyes got tearful a little. “You are the love of my life, Natasha.”

By that time, everyone in the room was practically crying. Even Erik was fighting his tears and was failing miserably. The bridesmaids were grinning with tearful eyes, while Dean practically melted into Castiel’s arms to hide the fact that he was pretty much crying in joy. As Sam placed his ring into Natasha’s finger.

“Wow.” Steve blinked away his own tears, as he gathered himself to carry on. “Well, Natasha, will you take this overly tall man to be your husband?”

“I do.” She murmured, without a second of hesitation.

“Sam, will you take this scary woman to be your wife?” Steve was failing miserably in hiding his grin.

“I do.” Sam whispered; his smile was impossibly soft.

“Okay, then by the power invested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife.” Steve announced with a huge grin on his face.

The two couple just stood there, grinning at each other like they forgot what else they were supposed to do.

“Hey, Sam, if you don’t kiss her I will.” Steve raised a pointed eyebrow at him, making the others almost giggle.

“Oh, right!” Sam snapped out of his trance, as he eagerly moved to take Natasha’s face in his hands and kissed her passionately, as she wrapped her own arms around his neck.

The room erupted in happy clapping and shouts around the newlyweds, who separated to grin happily at their family. They were immediately tackled by hugs, as Steve wrapped his arms around Natasha happily, while the others approached as well.

Sam turned and pulled both his brother and brother-in-law in one big hug, they both chuckled as they hugged him back just as tightly.

“I love you, guys.” He whispered, burying his face into Dean’s shoulder, squeezing his family even closer to him. “I am so happy that you both are here with me today.”

His words made the couple startle for a second, before Castiel smiled warmly, while Dean’s face softened as he clapped his brother on his back.

“There is no other place we would rather be, Sammy.” Dean whispered softly with a small smile.

After they separated, Natasha practically tackled Dean into a tight hug, that managed to make him unable to breathe, but hugged her anyway just as excitedly. Just as Sam was pulled into a hug by a very excited Thor, almost breaking a few bones in the process.

But Sam didn’t care. He was happy. A few broken bones will not change that.

It will be worth it.

***

Later in the reception, the newlyweds were seated on a table with the other three married couples, while the rest of the team were moving around, drinking, eating and overall enjoying themselves happily.

During their first dance as a married couple, swinging slowly to the soft music, surrounded by all the other couples in their family, Sam finally admitted to her about the hair incident, enjoying the sound of her laughter.

“Dean and Tony were actually planning to get me a traditional, Indian headdress to hide it and get on with the wedding.” He continued with a chuckle, managing to laugh about the whole thing without feeling ashamed now.

“Why didn’t you try a hat?” Natasha asked with a raised, curious eyebrow.

That made Sam pause and blink at her, before turning to Dean and Tony, who were dancing with their husbands close to them.

“Hat.” He started dryly, giving them a blank look. “You guys thought of an Indian headdress, but you didn’t think of hat.”

They both gaped at him for a second, while Steve and Castiel were practically shaking from how hard they were trying not to laugh.

“Hey! I did think of Cas, you have to give me some credit for that!” Dean pointed out defensively, making his husband snort.

“I also thought about finding you a toupee, but that would have looked stupid.” Tony added helpfully, managing to make Steve move to bury his face into his shoulder as he giggled.

“Right, but the Indian headdress would have looked stylish and fancy.” Sam gave them a bitchface, that was made specifically for these two.

“Oh, look! Food!” they both exclaimed a little too loud, as they practically dragged their husbands behind them, as they ran away from Sam’s bitchface and Natasha’s delighted laughter.

Right now, at their shared table, the newly married couple were practically glued to each other, grinning and smiling like idiots, much to the others amusement on the table.

“I am pretty sure they will turn into a pile of goo any second now.” Tony commented, while taking a sip from his wine.

“You are in no place to judge.” Charles rolled his eyes, as he gave him a pointed look. “On your wedding day, you were practically a huge, happy teddy bear.”

“Well, they didn’t know that, Big Brain, damn!” Tony groaned, as all eyes turned to look at him with predator like grins, while Steve just chuckled and wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulders.

“Actually, we both were. Seriously, anyone on their right mind will be like this on their wedding day, if they were marrying the person they love the most.” Steve pointed out with a small smile, placing a kiss to Tony’s temple, who was struggling not to blush.

Dean was about to tease him mercilessly, but he got two raised eyebrows from Sam and Castiel, so he immediately snapped his mouth shut.

Otherwise, he would have been a huge hypocrite, since on his own wedding day, according to Sam, he resembled a big, lovesick puppy that practically attached to Castiel, while grinning like an idiot the entire time. He didn’t regret it, or was ashamed. He never thought he will ever get married, and he had married the angel that he loved for years and was too afraid to do anything about it. Of course he would be grinning like an idiot.

After discussing that Erik was also resembling a cuddly mama bear on his wedding, managing to make the mutant fifty shades of red, while Charles kissed his cheek with a small grin, it was finally time for speeches.

Dean insisted to be the last, which only managed to make Sam nervous and terrified the whole time. Steve and Castiel gave them heartwarming speeches, that left the entire room with tearful eyes yet again, then Clint, who gave an embarrassing speech dedicated to make Natasha’s face red from killing intent, after that, surprisingly, Bobby gave them short few words, but it was deeply from his heart and it showed.

Then came Dean’s turn.

The room went silent, as everyone watched Dean walking up to the small podium. Some were waiting in anticipation, others, mainly Sam, were waiting for a disaster.

“I have to go to the bathroom, so I am going to keep this short.” Dean started dryly as he talked into the mike, getting chuckles from everyone and two groans, one form his brother and the other from his husband.

“This is going to be unbearable,” Castiel muttered to Steve, who snorted loudly.

“It is kinda hard to come up after Steve Rogers, king of strong speeches, but I will give it my best shot.” Dean shrugged, as he started to read from his pre written speech, “Even though, a few months ago, Sam came up to me and told me ‘I don’t really want you to speak in my wedding, but you are the only brother I have.’ So here we are.”

Every word Dean was saying was delivered in a dry, deadpan way, that only managed to make everyone laugh involuntarily. Tony already was covering his mouth with his hand, so he won’t accidently snort rather loudly.

“For those who don’t know me, I am Dean and I am today’s best brother. I decided to enter the best brother stakes, instead of the best man stakes, because there will be less competition.” This time, Tony failed to hold back his snort.

“It is really an honor to be here today, in a room filled with friends and family. You can find people from all around the world here. A few traveled specifically for the event. It is amazing how far people will travel for a free meal.”

It was hopeless, the room turned successfully into a pile of people unable to resist their laughter, even Natasha was unable to hold it back, while Dean didn’t bother to look up from the paper, he just delivered every sentence with a complete straight face, which made it even funnier.

“No, really, I love being a part of this small army that Sam calls wedding party. Like literally, everyone here is armed under their suits and dresses, if someone decided to blow an air bag, they are going to be shot to death in under two seconds. You can’t be too careful after everything that happened, really.” 

Sam’s face was struggling to maintain his scowl, but his lips were moving violently to let out the laugh stuck in his throat.

“It’s really great to be here today, considering we were trapped in another world a few days ago and almost shot to death. I always knew that the wedding was going to happen one way or another, since everything was already paid for. You can’t just go to cancel a wedding just because the bride was killed in another world. That would have been embarrassing to explain.”

Natasha snorted into her wine glass, managing to make their table lose it completely.

“Let me tell you a little about my relationship with Sam. We met in the eighties. Back in a time where spam was simply canned meat. I was bigger at first, obviously, since I am the oldest, but a few years later, Sam started to look like a child body builder, while I looked like no one ever fed me.” by that time, even fucking Fury was laughing. “He was always like. ‘I need my proteins, I need my proteins.’ So I would just starve, I guess.”

“When were young, I would take advantage of his too large body, so I would give him a hard object, then I stand with any glass object behind be, such as mirrors, windows or pitchers. Then I insult him. Since he is a big puppy, who sometimes don’t know his own strength, he would hurl the hard object at me, I duck, the glass would break and I would love every second of it.”

Erik loved that particular part and was laughing way too hard, while Bobby was chuckling, obviously seeing that story himself at some point.

“A couple of years ago, on my birthday, Sam gave me a card that said “Happy Birthday! Cas made me give you this!’.” A groan from Sam, a startled laugh from Castiel. “I won’t make fun of Sam much today. He already went through too much this week. He does have qualities! Like, uhm, oops, give me second, I forgot to come back and fill this blank space.” 

“Jerk!” Sam let out an involuntarily yell at his brother, who only took it on stride.

“Calm down, Bitch, don’t get your panties on a twist, I will find a quality.” Dean retorted automatically, no change in tone or even on his face. “No, no, he does have qualities. He is smart, he is tough, the guy stood up to an evil, Nazi version of me, enough said. Letting that version shot an arrow at my car, which is now had an arrow hole in it, thanks Sam, one day I will stick that arrow into you where the sun won’t shine. Wait, we are supposed to talk about his qualities, I got sidetracked.” 

“Make him stop, I am dying.” Tony wheezed through his continuous laughter, leaning heavily against Steve, who was also losing it.

“Today, Sam is a married man! Today is about Sam and the love of his life. His hair.” Somewhere in the room, Thor was practically wheezing in Bruce’s arms. “In a world where there are people who leave everything for the last minute, like myself and this speech, and then there is Sam, you could look no further in the planning that went on for today, he actually had his wedding website up and running, even before he met Natasha.”

Sam was stuck between hiding under the table, or try to murder himself with a dinner knife.

“Natasha, you look beautiful today, Sam, you could have used more work. Nat, I can already tell that Sam is better than you in choosing their partner. After all, you chose him and he chose you, you do the math.” Natasha was positively grinning now, while Sam was facepalming.

“I liked you from the start, even if I hate showing it. You are kind, compassionate, badass and way out of my brother’s league. Welcome to the Winchester family, where you need to die two or three times to confirm your membership. Since you cheated death a few times by now, and you didn’t die so far after sleeping with Sam, I can confidently say you will be the only exception. Seriously, I couldn’t have asked for a cooler sister-in-law.” At that part Dean sent Natasha a smile and a wink, electing a few ‘awws’ from around the room.

“Sam, Natasha, I wish you two all the best in your life together. I love you both.” A pause. “Cas made me say that.”

The room practically erupted in a loud roar of laughter that managed to terrify poor Angel. Even Castiel let out a startled laugh and now was leaning heavily against Charles, who was failing to stay upright from the force of his mirth.

“Let’s all raise a glass to Natasha and Sam! I am going to hug them now, then go to the bathroom, thank you.” With that Dean, thankfully, wrapped up his speech. He descended from the stage, as everyone clapped enthusiastically while still laughing hysterically.

He grinned as he approached the new married couple, Natasha grinned back as they hugged, not even slightly bothered about Dean turning his speech into stand-up comedy.

“I hate you.” Sam narrowed his eyes at him, but the mirth in his eyes and his grin didn’t make it convincing.

“Love you too, bitch.” Dean wiggled his eyebrows as he pulled his brother into a hug, obviously too proud of himself.

Sam couldn’t even bring himself to care anymore. Watching his brother getting claps on his back from their increasingly amused friends, then get a raised eyebrow from his husband, who was immediately pacified when Dean gave him a quick, enthusiastic kiss.

Sam’s eyes then landed on his wife. _His wife_. Who turned her eyes to him, to give a small, sweet smile that he knew it was only for him, and now it will forever be only for him.

In a room filled with all the people he loved. His brother’s laughter ringing in his ears, his brother-in-law’s warm presence, his family of superheroes bickering, laughing, clapping on his back every few minutes, his wife’s eyes unable to look away from him for too long, Sam learned what happiness really felt like.

An emotion he thought he will never feel completely, but in this moment, he now truly understood what happiness really was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Done!
> 
> Wow, that part ended faster than I thought!  
> I just want to say, thank you to everyone who read, commented or left Kudos! Really, every comment managed to make my day! So, thank you so much!
> 
> Eventually, maybe not for a few more parts, I might add another fandom into this freaking crazy chaos. Attack On Titan, if you guys are familiar with it, if not, you really should! It is amazing and one of the best things I ever watched! I am now a hardcore shipper for a new ship there, Eruri (Erwin Smith x Levi Ackerman) if you think the fandom will add a nice touch here, please tell me what you think! I would love to know your thoughts about it, it might even help me make this a little more better ;) 
> 
> This series is far from over! Hopefully, I will be able to start on a new part soon, if life didn't fuck with me ;)
> 
> See you soon and stay tuned for the next part!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked the first chapter! Please tell me what you think!


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